Suicide and fatal alcohol poisoning in Russia, 1956-2005

Background: The association between alcohol and suicide is well documented. The role of binge drinking patterns in the alcohol-suicide relationship is a very important issue today. The solid body of research and empirical evidence suggests that hazardous patterns of alcohol consumption (binge drinking) lead to a quicker and deeper intoxication, increasing the propensity for alcohol-related suicide. Purpose: To estimate the aggregate level effect of binge drinking on the suicide rate in the 'wet' Russian drinking culture. Method: Trends in age-adjusted, sex-specific suicide and fatal alcohol-poisoning rate (as a proxy for binge drinking) from 1956 to 2005 in Russia were analysed employing an ARIMA analysis in order to assess bivariate relationship between the two time series. Results: The results of the time-series analysis indicates the presence of a statistically significant association between the two time series at zero lag for male (r = 0.79; SE = 0.14), and for female (r = 0.58; SE = 0.14). Conclusion: The present study replicates previous findings from other settings that suggest positive association between alcohol and suicide at aggregate level. Support is thus provided for the hypothesis that suicide and alcohol are closely connected in cultures where intoxication-oriented drinking patterns prevail and these results add to the growing body of evidence that alcohol played a crucial role in the fluctuation in suicide mortality rate in Russia during the last decades.