using-a-simple-calculation-strategy-seconds-per-year-divided-by-event-interval-e

Question

Using a simple calculation strategy (seconds per year divided by event interval), estimate the approximate annual global number of completed suicides and suicide attempts if one suicide occurs every 40 seconds and one suicide attempt occurs every 2 seconds. Which pair is closest to the correct annual totals?

Accepted Answer

About 788,400 completed suicides and about 15,768,000 attempts per year.

Answer

About 315,360 completed suicides and about 3,153,600 attempts per year, based on dividing by the numbers of days rather than seconds to approximate annual totals.

Answer

About 1,000,000 completed suicides and about 10,000,000 attempts per year, because estimates are often rounded to the nearest million for simplicity when creating national strategies with broad budgets and projections.

Answer

About 15,768 completed suicides and about 788,400 attempts per year, reversing the intervals accidentally and therefore underestimating the numbers used for planning interventions.