Deaths by suicide in Ecuador: a quantitative data analysis

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to investigate the profile of Ecuadorians who died by suicide during 2011. The National Mortality Study of 2011 was used in order to investigate the variables: sex, age, marital status, area of residence, natural region, level of instruction, ethnic self-identification, pregnancy and types of suicide. A descriptive analysis, a multiple correspondence analysis and a hierarchical classification were realized. The analysis showed that the majority of the Ecuadorians who died by suicide were men, singles and married, they were living in urban areas, in the mountain range and coast region, they had attended Primary or Secondary education and died by hanging, strangulation and suffocation or by exposure to pesticides, other chemicals and noxious substances.