Suicide By Hanging: Results From A National Survey In Switzerland ...

Details of hanging procedure

In 1,052 cases (82.1% of all records) the strangulation tool is specified in the reported IRM data. Women were significantly more likely to use clothes or accessories (including belts), whereas men numerically more often used ropes.

Women more often hanged themselves in their own home and in a psychiatric hospital, whereas men more often chose public places (e.g. stairwells), nature, their workplace or while in police custody/prison (for details see Table 3).

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Table 3. Details of suicides by hanging: Gender specific results.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0220508.t003

The suspension point of the strangulation tool was 250.4 cm on average (SD = 131.5 cm). On average, men chose higher suspension points (men: 259.9 cm, SD = 137.6 cm; women: 206.8 cm, SD = 87.8 cm; t = 2.34; p = 0.02). In 60.2% (534 of 887 datasets), the feet touched the ground (incomplete hanging entries in 69.2% of the datasets). We found no significant difference between men and women regarding complete versus incomplete hanging (incomplete hanging: males: 59.8%, females: 61.7%).

The exact suspension point was described in 627 datasets (48.9%). Inside homes, people chose a variety of suspension points. with beams, rods/tubes and shelves being the most common points of suspension. If a door was used, in almost half of the cases (18/40; 45%) the strangulation tool was attached to the handle of a door. Outside buildings, trees were used almost exclusively.

In protected environments (e.g. hospitals, prison, police custody, residential homes) people often hanged themselves on furniture, windows and on sanitary installations (shower rod, etc.). Almost half the people outside protected environments used some kind of installation such as pipes, bars, hooks, curtain rails and beams as suspension points. In protected environments, people used trees less often (for details see Table 4).

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Table 4. Comparison of suspension points in controlled and uncontrolled environments (prison, hospital, residential home).

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0220508.t004