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Heroin Addiction and Related Clinical Problems: 2015, 17, 4 (pages: 77 - 84)

Suicide by narcotic poisoning in Slovenia, according to gender, during the period 2004-2007

Lovrecic M., Lovrecic B., Selb Semerl J., and Maremmani I.

Summary: Background. Suicide is a serious public health problem in Slovenia. Illicit drug users are in greater danger than the general population. There are several differences in ways of committing suicide that set the illicit drug population apart from the general population. This study has aimed to compare the external causes of death by suicide (specifying the methods used), and to compare narcotic with non-narcotic overdoses among illicit drug users according to gender in the 2004-2007 period in Slovenia. Methods. Information on the subjects was made available by linking the records kept in three national data sources. Results. More than half of these suicide victims had died because of an overdose; more precisely, overdose by prescription drugs was predominant. In more than half of the cases of suicide committed by males, death was due to an indirect, external cause, whereas in more than half of the cases of suicide committed by females, death was due to an overdose. No other gender differences were found. Females tend to be unregistered by agonist opioid treatment centres. Conclusions. The most common method of suicide was overdose for both genders, with females at greater risk than males. Caution in prescription practice is needed, especially when treating female patients.