Factors Associated With Failed and Completed Railway Suicides

This study assessed the proportion of survivors of railway suicide & compared survivors & decedents in terms of personal characteristics & temporal patterns to identify potential differences. A total of 5731 suicide victims listed in the German central railway registry of person accidents over the period 1997-2002 & satisfying an operational definition of suicidal behaviour were included. A multivariate logistic regression was performed. A minority of subjects survived. The risk factors for fatal outcome were male gender, occurrence at night, open track, & main railway line. Interactions between 2 factors on fatal outcome were multivariate tested but showed no significance. (36 refs.) JA