Key Points

• Emergency Department Activity:

  • Activity related to suicidal ideation increased significantly among adolescents and adults, and remained stable among those aged 65 and older. Both the number of visits and the proportion of activity were higher among women than among men during both the 2017–2019 and 2020–2021 periods.

  • Between 2017–2019 and 2020–2021, for suicide attempts, there was a significant increase in activity among young people (ages 11–24), unlike among adults.

• Hospitalizations for suicide attempts:

  • In 2019, the age-standardized hospitalization rate for suicide attempts was below the national rate. Between 2010 and 2019, there was a gradual decline in the hospitalization rate for suicide attempts, which has consistently been higher among women than among men. As at the national level, over the 2017–2019 period, hospitalizations for suicide attempts among residents of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region aged 10 and older primarily involved women, and the 10–19 age group was particularly affected. Among men, the highest crude hospitalization rate for suicide attempts was observed among those aged 40–49.

  • Over the 2017–2019 period, the case-fatality rate following hospitalization for suicide attempts was 14.1 per 1,000, a figure higher than that observed in mainland France. In-hospital mortality increased sharply with age, and more so among men than among women. The most frequently reported method of suicide in the region was drug overdose.

  • During the pandemic, the number of hospitalizations for suicide attempts decreased in 2020, with a marked decline during the first lockdown related to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, in 2021, a slight increase in the number of hospitalizations for suicide attempts was observed, and the Var, Hautes-Alpes, and Alpes-Maritimes departments had the highest rates, at levels higher than those of the region and metropolitan France.

• Suicide mortality:

  • In 2017, the age-standardized suicide mortality rate was lower than that of metropolitan France. The majority of suicide deaths involved men. Between 2000 and 2017, the age-standardized suicide mortality rate among people aged 10 and older decreased. This decrease was observed among both men and women. However, in 2017, suicide deaths were nearly three times more common among men than among women.

  • Among men, the age distribution of suicide deaths showed a predominance among those aged 40 and older. Among women, the predominant age groups were those aged 50–59 and 60–69. Young people aged 10–19 accounted for a small proportion of suicide deaths for both sexes. The region stood out for its high proportion of suicides among those aged 80 and older for both sexes, compared to metropolitan France.

  • As at the national level, the most common method of suicide recorded was hanging, for both sexes, although it was more frequent among men. In 2017, three departments had suicide mortality rates higher than both the regional rate and that of metropolitan France: Var, Alpes-Maritimes, and Vaucluse. Bouches-du-Rhône had some of the lowest mortality rates for both men and women among metropolitan departments.