OBJECTIVE: To analyze rates and some characteristics of suicide mortality between indigenous and non-indigenous people in the State of Amazonas. METHOD: Retrospective cohort study, where in data of death were obtained from the Information System on Mortality and data of population from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. We used all records of suicide that occurred during the period 2006-2010 and the annual geometric interpolation for the estimation of subpopulations. RESULTS: Six hundred eighty-eight suicide cases were reported in the State of Amazonas, of which 19.0% indigenous people. The standardized mortality rate for suicide (SMRS) in indigenous people, of the 18.4/100.000, was 4.4 times higher than that of non-indigenous people. The SMRS in indigenous people increased 1.6 times in 2010 compared to 2006 year. In the municipalities of Tabatinga and São Gabriel da Cachoeira the SMRS were much high, 75.8 and 41.9/100.000, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Inequalities in the behavior of the suicide mortality rates between indigenous and non indigenous people were proved, exposing not only their local importance, but also a hidden public health problem issue, especially among youth age 15-24.
Suicide; epidemiology; indigenous population; health inequalities; Brazil
