Incidence of suicide among military police officers in South Brazil: An 11-year retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Suicide is known to be the leading cause of death among police officers (PO) worldwide. However, most studies were conducted in developed countries, with no data from Brazil. The present study aimed to evaluate the incidence and the sociodemographic profile of suicide among a military PO subpopulation in South Brazil.

METHODS: This retrospective cohort evaluated 31,110 military PO with available data on cause of death from 2006 to 2016. Participants were monitored for an average of 18.8 ± 9.6 years following the date of entry into the military police.

RESULTS: Mean age at the end of the follow up time was 41.4 ± 9.1 years, with 90.7% males. A total of 650 participants died (2.1%), with 43 suicides (6.6% of all deaths) - cumulative incidence of 138/100,000. Bivariate analysis revealed a significant association (p < 0.05) between suicide and age (HR = 0.70, 95%CI = 0.66-0.74), females (HR = 1.67, 95%CI = 1.08-2.60) and enlisted military rank (HR = 14.9, 95%CI = 2.05-108.5). Multivariate models showed an independent association between suicide and age (HR = 0.71, 95%CI = 0.67-0.74) and enlisted military rank (HR = 9.96, 95%CI = 1.30-76.3).

CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of suicide among military PO in South Brazil was high, compared to the national suicide rate. Younger age and lower military rank were independent predictors of suicide in this subpopulation.