Assistierte und konventionelle Suizide in München – ein Gruppenvergleich

Assisted suicide (AS) has been permitted in Germany since 2020 for persons who are fully responsible. This study examined whether AS cases differed from conventional suicides (KS).

The death certificates of all Munich deaths from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2023 were analyzed as well as autopsy certificates and public prosecutor’s permits for the burial of all AS and KS victims. After standardized data entry, the data were anonymized and evaluated descriptively.

During the study period 60,357 people died. Of these deaths 803 (1.3%) were classified as suicide, of which 77 cases (9.6%) were AS and 726 (90.4%) were KS. The two groups differed in almost all the parameters examined. In addition to documented depression, the most important common feature was a history of suicide attempts.

For the first time, data on the comparison of AS and KS from a major German city can be presented. Suicide attempts are one of the most important risk factors for further attempts. A legal regulation of AS and a strategy for suicide prevention for both groups is desirable. It should be critically noted that there are no valid data available nationwide for AS due to a lack of mandatory reporting or coding in the cause of death statistics and that the documented increase in suicide figures since 2022 may be caused by an increase in AS cases.