Analysis of Suicide in Ecuador: 71.27% were men, 28.73% women in 2011

Deaths by Suicide in Ecuador: A Quantitative Data Analysis
Narcisa Marisol Sarmiento Sarmiento
Ana Maribel Paredes Proaño
Efstathios Stefos
School of Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Faculty
of Exact and Natural Sciences, Pontifical Catholic
University of Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador
2
Proyecto Prometeo, Quito, Ecuador
Correspondence: Efstathios Stefos, School of Physical
Sciences and Mathematics, Faculty of Exact and Natural
Sciences, Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador, Quito, Av. 12 de Octubre 1076 y Roca, Ecuador. Tel:
593-02-299-1700. E-mail: estefos@aegean.gr
Received: January 2, 2016
Accepted: February 2, 2016
Online Published:
February 13, 2016
Abstract
The aim of the present study was to investigate the profile of Ecuadorians who died by suicide during 2011. The National Mortality Study of 2011 was used in order to inve
stigate the variables: sex, age, marital status, area of residence, natural region, level of instruction, ethnic self-identification, pregnancy and types of suicide. A descriptive analysis, a multiple correspondence analysis and a hierarchical classification were realized. The analysis showed that the majority of the Ecuadorians who died by suicide were men, singles and married, they were living in urban areas, in the mountain range and coast region, they had attended Primary or Secondary education and died by hanging, strangulation and suffocation or by exposure to pesticides, other chemicals and noxious substances.

1. Introduction
The present study aims to investigate the profile of the Ecuadorians who died by suicide. In order to achieve this aim we used the last officially published data about the mortality in Ecuador (INEC, 2011). According to the National Mortality Study of 2011, the Ecuadorians who died by suicide (919 deaths) represent 1.48% of the total number of deaths in Ecuador (62304) during 2011. The Ecuadorians who died by suicide during 2010 (913 deaths) represent 1.48% of the total number of deaths (61681) (INEC, 2010). The Ecuadorians who died by suicide during 2009 (966 deaths) represent 1.62% of the total number of deaths (59714) (INEC, 2009). The Ecuadorians who died by suicide during 2008 (929 deaths) represent 1.55% of the total number of
deaths (60023) (INEC, 2008). The Ecuadorians who died by suicide during 2007 (1006 deaths) represent 1.73% of the total number of deaths (58016) (INEC, 2007). The Ecuadorians who died by suicide during 2006 (900 deaths) represent 1.55% of the total number of deaths
in Ecuador (57940) (González-Andrade et al., 2011; INEC,2006).

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A descriptive analysis, a multiple correspondence analysis
and a hierarchical classification were realized. The
variables under study are: sex, age, marital status, area of
residence, natural region, level of instruction, ethnic self-identification, pregnancy and types of suicide. The descriptive analysis presents the percentages and the frequencies for the variables under investigation. The multiple correspondence analysis presents the differentiation criteria of the Ecuadorians who died by suicide and the hierarchical classification defines the clusters of the persons according to their common characteristics (Athanasiadis, 1995).
In the frame of this study, we used the statistical software SPAD v.4.5 offered by the Faculty of Humanities of the University of the Aegean.

2. The Descriptive Analysis
71.27% of the Ecuadorians who died by suicide during 2011 were men and 28.73% were women – 24.27% of them were young persons between the ages of 10 and 19 years, 32.64% were persons between the ages of 20 and 29 years, 14.25% were persons between the ages of 30 and 39 years, 10.55% were persons between the ages of 40 and 49 years, 8.49% were persons between the ages of 50 and 59 years, 5.77% were persons between the ages of 60 and 69 years, 2.72% were persons between the ages of 70 and 79 years and 1.31% were persons between the ages of 80 and 89 years. Read Full Paper