Suicide and work in Brazilian metropolises: an ecological study

The scope of this study was to correlate suicide mortality with health indicators and work in six Brazilian metropolises: Porto Alegre, Recife, Salvador, Belo Horizonte, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. It was an ecological study, the outcome of which is the death rate from suicide in the historical series from 2002 to 2010, and the independent variables are the indicators of occupational activity and mental suffering. Statistical association using the Pearson Correlation test was conducted and the variables associated with suicide (p < 0.05) were included in a multivariate linear regression model. The suicide mortality was higher in Porto Alegre, followed by Sao Paulo, and the trend of the phenomenon was in the ascendant (p = 0.03). It was observed that the economically active and gainfully employed population remained in the final regression model in the city of Sao Paulo. The association between suicide mortality and occupational variables suggests that work in the context of insecurity worsens the quality of life of the working population, causing physical and mental suffering and increasing the risk of self-harm.