epidemiological characteristics of suicide cases in rafsanjan from 2004 to 2009: the roles of family disputes and unemployment

background: suicide can be defined as an intentional act of self harm that leads to death. the aim of the present study was to determine the epidemiological characteristics of suicide cases which were recorded by rafsanjan legal medical organization from 2004 to 2009.   materials and methods: this descriptive study was carried out in the year 2010 in rafsanjan county of kerman province which is located in southeast of iran. suicide data were gathered by applying a checklist in which gender, age, method of committing suicide as well as cause and the year of the event were recorded.   results: during the six years of our investigation, 20 cases of suicide were recorded. the mean age were 27.92±6.77 and 29.14±10.38 years for males and females, respectively. there were 13 (65%) males among the cases. poison ingestion in 7 (35%) cases was the highest most frequent applied method of suicide. family disputes in 16 (80%) cases and unemployment along with addiction in 4 (20%) cases were reported as the causes of suicide.   conclusion: although it seems that suicide occurs less often in rafsanjan, the possibility of under-enumeration and under-reporting of it must also be taken into account. in addition, a comprehensive prevention plan should be designed and implemented in order to tackle the root causes of suicide i.e. family disputes, unemployment and addiction. meanwhile, easy access to the most prominent method of suicide i.e. organophosphate poison and similar substances should be restricted.