Prepared by: Victoria Zakrajšek, Tatjana Kofol Bric 
Date of last change: March 2019

Purpose and justification of the indicator

The state of mental health of the population is a reflection of the general state of society. Differences in mental health reflect social differences. Between 500 and 600 people take their own lives in Slovenia every year, which ranks Slovenia among the ten most endangered European countries according to the suicide rate. There are ten to twenty times more suicide attempts. Among the more important risk factors for suicidal behavior are mental disorders. More than 90% of suicides are related to a mental disorder or illness. Mental disorders and diseases are widespread in the general population, but unfortunately often unrecognized. Mental problems are often a signal and expression of people&#39;s socio-economic hardships. In Slovenia, suicides are strongly linked to socially threatened or marginalized groups, such as the poor, the less educated, the unemployed, the elderly, which indirectly shows that people often express and signal their wider social danger through them. On a personal level, every suicidal act is a sign of deep emotional stress, depression, sadness, hopelessness, which resonates with the population as a whole. When mental problems occur, not only the individual is affected, but also his immediate and wider social community. According to forecasts, by 2020 mental illness will be the second most common disease worldwide, after cardiovascular disease. Due to the large number of suicides in Slovenia, suicide is also a public health problem and a problem for every individual, various professions, institutions and the country as a whole. One of the prerequisites for the development of good preventive programs is the study of the state of mental health in the country and its continuous measurement, which can recognize changes in mental health states over time, identify fundamental problems and areas for intervention.

Definition of indicator

The suicide mortality rate describes the number of deaths due to suicide per 100,000 inhabitants in an observed calendar year. An age-standardized rate is calculated, which enables mutual comparison of populations with different age structures. Unlike the standard calculation of mortality by usual place of residence, for the purpose of display in Health in the municipalities, the municipality of the last permanent residence is taken into account. If there is no permanent residence in the official records, the last temporary residence is taken into account.

Unit of measure

Calculation of the indicator

The standardized suicide mortality rate is the ratio between the number of deaths by suicide in the observed calendar year and the population in the middle of the same year, multiplied by 100,000. The disease categories according to the IKB-10 classification, which are included in the calculation, are X60-X84 and Y87.0. Mortality due to suicide<math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mo> =</mo><mfrac><mrow><mi> Š</mi><mi> t</mi><mi> e</mi><mi> in</mi><mi> i</mi><mi> l</mi><mi> o</mi><mo></mo><mi> u</mi><mi> m</mi><mi> d</mi><mi> l</mi><mi> i</mi><mi> h</mi><mo></mo><mi> with</mi><mi> a</mi><mi> d</mi><mi> a</mi><mi> d</mi><mi> i</mi><mo></mo><mi> with</mi><mi> a</mi><mi> m</mi><mi> o</mi><mi> m</mi><mi> o</mi><mi> d</mi><mi> a</mi></mrow><mrow><mi> Š</mi><mi> t</mi><mi> e</mi><mi> in</mi><mi> i</mi><mi> l</mi><mi> o</mi><mo></mo><mi> p</mi><mi> d</mi><mi> e</mi><mi> b</mi><mi> i</mi><mi> in</mi><mi> a</mi><mi> l</mi><mi> c</mi><mi> e</mi><mi> in</mi></mrow></mfrac><mo> ×</mo><mn> 100</mn><mo> .</mo><mn> 000</mn></math> The direct standardization method is used for standardization, where the Slovenian population from 2014 is used as the standard population. The publications show the average of several consecutive years.

Data sources for Slovenia

Death Database, National Institute of Public Health. Population, Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia.

Time availability

Data on suicide mortality are published annually.

Men in literature

<ol>
<li>Health for All Database (<a href="http://data.euro.who.int/hfadb/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">http://data.euro.who.int/hfadb/</a>)</li>
<li>Eurostat (<a href="http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat" target="_blank" rel="noopener">http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat</a>)&nbsp;</li>
</ol>

Notes

The deceased are classified by municipality according to their last place of permanent residence. If there is no permanent residence, they are classified by temporary residence. This is to a large extent correcting the impact on mortality by municipality that the registration of temporary residence in the period before death at the temporary address of the Home for the Elderly in another municipality has. In the 2016, 2017 and 2018 publications, mortality is shown by usual residence.

Mortality

Prepared by: Metka Zaletel 
Date of last modification: September 2016

Residents and community

Prepared by: Mojca Simončič and Metka Zaletel 
Date of last change: January 2018

Prepared by: Mojca Simončič and Metka Zaletel 
Date of last change: September 2016

Prepared by: Mojca Simončič 
Date of last change: March 2017

Prepared by: Gregor Starc 
Date of last modification: September 2016

Health risk factors

Prepared by: Gregor Starc, Kristina Orožen 
Date of last change: September 2016

Prepared by: Tina Lesnik 
Date of last change: March 2021

Prepared by: Andreja Belščak 
Date of last change: September 2016

Prepared by: Mateja Rok Simon and Tina Zupanič 
Date of last change: March 2017

Prepared by: Metka Zaletel 
Date of last modification: March 2019

Prepared by: Victoria Zakrajšek 
Date of last change: March 2021

Prepared by: Martin Ranfl, Jona Bambič 
Date of last change: November 2017

Prepared by: Jasmina Staroveški Anderlič 
Date of last change: March 2020

Prepared by: Victoria Zakrajšek 
Date of last change: November 2021

Prepared by: Victoria Zakrajšek 
Date of last change: March 2023

Prepared by: Tatjana Kofol Bric 
Date of last modification: September 2016

Preventive

Prepared by: Victoria Zakrajšek and Sonja Tomšič 
Date of last change: March 2017

Prepared by: Bonia Miljavac 
Date of last change: March 2017

Prepared by: Sonja Tomšič 
Date of last change: November 2019

Prepared by: Sonja Tomšič 
Date of last change: March 2021

Health status

Prepared by: Victoria Zakrajšek 
Date of last change: March 2017

Prepared by: Aleš Korošec 
Date of last change: September 2016

Prepared by: Aleš Korošec
Date of last change: September 2016

Prepared by: Tatjana Kofol Bric 
Date of last change: March 2019

Prepared by: Aleš Korošec and Sonja Tomšič 
Date of last change: September 2016

Prepared by: Mojca Simončič and Metka Zaletel 
Date of last change: October 2019

Prepared by: Kristina Orožen 
Date of last change: March 2019

Prepared by: Tatjana Kofol Bric, Jona Bambič 
Date of last change: March 2018

Prepared by: Victoria Zakrajšek, Tatjana Kofol Bric 
Date of last change: February 2020

Prepared by: Ema Ahačič 
Date of last change: April 2023

Prepared by: Ema Ahačič 
Date of last change: March 2023

Prepared by: Sonja Tomšič, Tatjana Kofol Bric 
Date of last change: March 2019

Prepared by: Sonja Tomšič 
Date of last change: March 2019

Prepared by: Tina Lesnik 
Date of last change: March 2019

Prepared by: Tina Lesnik 
Date of last change: March 2020