Correlating heatwaves and relative humidity with suicide (fatal intentional self-harm)

Florido Ngu, Fernando, Kelman, Illan, Chambers, Jonathan and Ayeb-Karlsson, Sonja, (2021). Correlating heatwaves and relative humidity with suicide (fatal intentional self-harm). Scientific Reports, 11 1-9

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  • Sub-type Journal article
    Author Florido Ngu, Fernando
    Kelman, Illan
    Chambers, Jonathan
    Ayeb-Karlsson, Sonja
    Title Correlating heatwaves and relative humidity with suicide (fatal intentional self-harm)
    Appearing in Scientific Reports
    Volume 11
    Publication Date 2021-11-15
    Place of Publication Basingstoke
    Publisher Springer Nature
    Start page 1
    End page 9
    Language eng
    Abstract Empirical evidence suggests that the effects of anthropogenic climate change, and heat in particular, could have a significant impact on mental health. This article investigates the correlation between heatwaves and/or relative humidity and suicide (fatal intentional self‑harm) on a global scale. The covariance between heat/humidity and suicide was modelled using a negative binomial Poisson regression with data from 60 countries between 1979–2016. Statistically significant increases and decreases in suicide were found, as well as many cases with no significant correlation. We found that relative humidity showed a more significant correlation with suicide compared to heatwaves and that both younger age groups and women seemed to be more significantly affected by changes in humidity and heatwave counts in comparison with the rest of the population. Further research is needed to provide a larger and more consistent basis for epidemiological studies; to understand better the connections among heat, humidity and mental health; and to explore in more detail which population groups are particularly impacted and why.
    UNBIS Thesaurus CLIMATE CHANGE
    MENTAL HEALTH
    HEAT
    HUMIDITY
    SUICIDE
    Keyword Fatal intentional self-harm
    Wellbeing
    Copyright Holder The Authors
    Copyright Year 2021
    Copyright type Creative commons
    DOI https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-01448-3
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    Created: Tue, 16 Nov 2021, 21:26:04 JST by Aarti Basnyat on behalf of UNU EHS