Suicides in Cracow. a comparative study of autopsy material from 1881 to 1975
Kołodziej, J.; Kunz, J.; Gross, A.
Folia Medica Cracoviensia 20(1): 19-30
1978
ISSN/ISBN: 0015-5616 PMID: 363540 Document Number: 124806
Suicides (1810) committed by people whose corpses were autopsied in the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Kracow, Poland, in 1961-1975 were studied. From a group of 1020 people living in Kracow the suicide frequency in the town was estimated per 100,000 inhabitants. The results were compared with the investigations of the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Kracow in 1881-1970. During the period till World War II the suicide number increased from 20.5 to 23.5/100,000, whereas in the recent 30 yr it remained more or less constant. Throughout the investigations the number of male suicides prevailed. The age limit of highest suicide frequency shifted to between 40-50, whereas in the previous years suicides were mostly committed by people in the 30th yr of life. During the investigated period the means of suicidal attempts changed as well. In recent years hanging and poisoning dominated whereas shots, most frequent at the beginning of this century, occur sporadically. The most frequent motives were psychical disease, personal and family conflicts and among men, alcoholism.