Worldwide data shows that approximately one million people committed self inflicted violence in 2000 and that the consequences have been alarming. One person dies for this reason every 40 seconds, with another attempting to take his/her life every three seconds. This exploratory study targeting the epidemiological analysis of mortality by self-inflicted violence in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, through calculating the Standardized Mortality Coefficient and Potential Years of Life Lost. Mortality calculated from 1996 to 2007 was 4.29 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, with men (6.9) outpacing women (1.73). The age range of 40 to 59 years reached a mortality coefficient of 7.0 deaths per 100,000 residents. In relation to the distribution of years of life lost, the average age of those who died remained around 40 years, focusing on the loss of the potential social subject taken by self-inflicted violence.
Violence; Suicide; Epidemiologic studies
