[Descriptive epidemiology of suicide in Spain (1906-1990)].

Introduction: In Spain, suicide as a cause of death is increasing in different age groups in both sexes. The aim of the present work is to characterize the phenomenon of suicide.

Materials and methods: A retrospective descriptive epidemiological study was carried out. Data periodically published by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) on the statistical Incidence of Suicides in Spain (1906-1990) were analyzed, processed and tabulated.

Results: Suicide increases with age and this increase is more pronounced as from 40 years of age. The ratio between sexes is 3:1 in favour of men, although with a tendency to decrease. The most important causes of suicide are: physical suffering (27%), psychopathy (18%) and Daily Activities (DA) (17.5%). The method most used is hanging, which has been the case of 37% of the suicides committed in Spain during the study period (1906-1990).

Conclusions: The risk factors associated with suicide are age, male sex, and physical and mental suffering.