| Summary: | Over the last two decades, overall mortality from suicide in the European Union, as well as in several Central and Eastern European countries (with the major exception of Russia and other countries of the former Soviet Union) has fallen appreciably, particularly in women. Likewise, appreciable declines in certified mortality from suicide were observed for women in the USA and for both sexes in Japan [1-3]. Rates have however increased in other countries, such as Cuba, Australia, New Zealand and some European countries (Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Spain), but, in spite of mixed trends, the global picture of suicide mortality has been relatively favourable across countries providing data to the WHO database [2]. Overall age-standardized suicide rates, however, may conceal different trends at different ages. These are not easily detectable by cohort analysis, since age effects may have major relevance on suicide rates [4]. Over recent years, in particular, upward trends in mortality from suicide in the young have been reported from several countries, including the UK, Ireland, Spain and Australia [5-7]. We have therefore updated trends in death certification rates from suicide over the last two decades in adolescent and young adults in 47 countries worlwide provinding data to the WHO database [2]. [Authors]
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