The time for suicide

Abstract To evaluate whether a time pattern exists in the occurrence of suicide, 223 cases observed in Ferrara, Italy, over a 10-year period were considered. The determination of the hour of suicide was precise in 99 cases, presumptive (within a range of 1 hour) in 53, while for another 44 cases it was possible to define a probable time of suicide, grouping into four 6-hour periods (night, morning, afternoon, and evening). The remaining 27 cases were excluded as it was impossible to determine the time reliably. The data were analysed both by means of chi 2 test for goodness-of-fit and by single cosinor. A specific pattern, characterized by a significant peak in the late morning -early afternoon hours was found for the entire sample and sex subgroups.