Leg Med (Tokyo). 2026 Jun 19;84:102896. doi: 10.1016/j.legalmed.2026.102896. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
This study aims to evaluate suicide statistics from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TURKSTAT) from 2015 to 2024 in terms of demographic and sociocultural characteristics, while also providing a forensic medicine perspective through comparison with the literature. Suicide data were obtained from TURKSTAT’s “Cause of Death Statistics” database and classified according to age group, sex, marital status, educational level, cause, and method of suicide. The annual crude suicide rate in Türkiye ranged between 3.94 and 5.22 per 100,000 population, with males consistently exhibiting a substantially higher mortality risk than females (6.84 vs. 2.14). Across specific age cohorts, sex-specific suicide rates peaked among young adult males aged 25-29 (11.27) and elderly males aged over 75 (11.98), whereas the highest rate among females was observed in the 15-19 age bracket (4.76). Disease-related factors represented the leading category among specified administrative causes (peaking at 1.31), while hanging emerged as the predominant method, accounting for 47.03% of all cumulative cases. By educational attainment, the highest longitudinal suicide rates over the decade were consistently documented among individuals with lower secondary (up to 8.32) and upper secondary education (up to 7.67). These findings suggest that suicide mortality in Türkiye is associated with a complex interplay of systemic health problems, socioeconomic stressors, and distinct sociodemographic vulnerabilities rather than isolated psychiatric conditions. Consequently, integrating macro-level epidemiological insights and sociocultural dimensions into forensic medical evaluations can support the development of targeted public health interventions and evidence-based preventive policies.
PMID:42365733 | DOI:10.1016/j.legalmed.2026.102896
