BACKGROUND An inverse relationship between obesity and suicide has been observed in younger adults, but this has not been examined in the elderly. METHODS A cross-national ecological study examined the independent relationship between the prevalence of obesity and elderly suicide rates, by controlling for potentially confounding variables, using data from the World Health Organization and the...

Is it better to have a heart attack in the United States or Canada? Ecological studies are epidemiological evaluations in which the unit of analysis is populations, or groups of people, rather than individuals.1 They can answer important questions such as the question posed above that cannot easily be answered using any other form of study design. Ecological studies are conducted by researchers...

Richard Hockey Because of the nature of the analysis used in this study [1], no conclusion is possible. There are plenty of examples in the literature demonstrating the “ecological fallacy”. Studies such as this have very little utility other than to generate hypotheses. I tend to think that this association is a marker for greater recognition and treatment for depression. However, it’s a brave...

Richard Hockey Because of the nature of the analysis used in this study [1], no conclusion is possible. There are plenty of examples in the literature demonstrating the “ecological fallacy”. Studies such as this have very little utility other than to generate hypotheses. I tend to think that this association is a marker for greater recognition and treatment for depression. However, it’s a brave...

Richard Hockey Because of the nature of the analysis used in this study [1], no conclusion is possible. There are plenty of examples in the literature demonstrating the “ecological fallacy”. Studies such as this have very little utility other than to generate hypotheses. I tend to think that this association is a marker for greater recognition and treatment for depression. However, it’s a brave...

Richard Hockey Because of the nature of the analysis used in this study [1], no conclusion is possible. There are plenty of examples in the literature demonstrating the “ecological fallacy”. Studies such as this have very little utility other than to generate hypotheses. I tend to think that this association is a marker for greater recognition and treatment for depression. However, it’s a brave...

Richard Hockey Because of the nature of the analysis used in this study [1], no conclusion is possible. There are plenty of examples in the literature demonstrating the “ecological fallacy”. Studies such as this have very little utility other than to generate hypotheses. I tend to think that this association is a marker for greater recognition and treatment for depression. However, it’s a brave...