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

ABSTRACT:

Background

Extremes 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.

Methods

We 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 im

SUBMITTER: Richardson RA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7530027 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature