Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32739270›Full record

ArticleEnvironmental research2020

Extremes in water availability and suicide: Evidence from a nationally representative sample of rural Indian adults.

Robin A Richardson, Sam Harper, Scott Weichenthal, Arijit Nandi, Vimal Mishra, Prabhat Jha

Open access · greenAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Environmental research, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
0.9field-weighted citation impact, top 28% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 20 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. A Systematic Literature Review of the Impact of Climate Change on the Global Demand for Psychiatric Services.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023
    Pooled it
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Youth Suicidality in the Context of Disasters.Current psychiatry reports · 2023
    Review
  7. Article
  8. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.

Robin A RichardsonDepartment of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA. Electronic address: rr3239@cumc.columbia.edu.
Sam HarperDepartment of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada; Institute for Health and Social Policy, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
Scott WeichenthalDepartment of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
Arijit NandiDepartment of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada; Institute for Health and Social Policy, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
Vimal MishraIndian Institute of Technology (IIT), Gandhinagar, GJ, India.
Prabhat JhaCentre for Global Health Research, St. Michael's Hospital and Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
McGill University Health Centre · CAColumbia University Irving Medical Center · USIndian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar · INMcGill University · CASt. Michael's Hospital · CA

Funding

RESEARCH TRAINING PROGRAM IN PSYCHIATRIC EPIDEMIOLOGYT32MH013043 · NIMH · COLUMBIA UNIV NEW YORK MORNINGSIDE · PI Katherine M. Keyes · 1985 to 2026
$11.7M
CIHR FDN-154277NIMH NIH HHS T32 MH013043
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundExtremes in water availability, either exceptionally wet or dry conditions, can damage crops and may detrimentally affect the livelihood and well-being of people engaged in agriculture. We estimated the effect of water availability on suicide in rural India, a context where the majority of households are dependent upon agriculture.

methodsWe used data from a nationally representative sample of 8.5 million people who were monitored for causes of death from 2001 to 2013. Water availability was measured with high-resolution precipitation and temperature data (i.e., the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index). We used a fixed effects approach that modeled changes in water availability within districts (n = 569) over time (n = 13 years) to estimate the impact on suicide deaths. We restricted our analysis to rural areas and to deaths occurring during the growing season (June-March) among adults aged 15 or older, and controlled for sex, age, region, and year. We used Poisson regression with standard errors clustered at the district level and total deaths as the offset.

resultsThere were 9456 suicides and 249,786 total deaths in our study population between 2001 and 2013. Compared to normal growing seasons, the percent of deaths due to suicide increased by 18.7% during extremely wet growing seasons (95% CI: 6.2, 31.2) and by 3.6% during extremely dry growing seasons (95% CI: -17.9, 25.0). We found that effects varied by age.

conclusionsWe found extremes is water availability associated with an increase in suicide. Abnormally wet growing conditions may play an important, yet overlooked, role in suicide among rural Indian adults.

Indexed as

SuicideWaterAdolescentAdultHumansIndiaSeasonsTemperatureWaterDroughtIndiaMillion deaths studyStandardized precipitation evapotranspiration indexSuicide

Identifiers

PMID32739270
PMCPMC7530027
OpenAlexW3046166758

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.