We thank the comments of Fernández-Niño [1] addressing our article [2] “Increase in Suicide Rates by Hanging in the Population of Tabasco, Mexico between 2003 and 2012”, which pointed out that the use of the epidemiological concept “prevalence” is not correctly applied in the present manuscript.
In the discussion section we wrote: “However, this difference could be explained considering the fact that Tabasco State in Mexico has a historic higher prevalence of suicide than the rest of the country. However, the suicide prevalence remained unchanged in females.” This should have said: “However, this difference could be explained considering the fact that Tabasco State in Mexico historically has a higher incidence of suicide than the rest of the country. However, the suicide incidence remained unchanged in females”.
In the paper mentioned above we showed changes in the incidence of suicide in the population of Tabasco, Mexico, between 2003–2012. We identified a specific age group where the incidence of suicide increased 180% from 2003–2012; however, the use of the word “prevalence” was inappropriate as Fernández-Niño clearly noticed and explained [1].
We appreciate this valuable comment; we agree it is very important to have adequate use of the epidemiological terminology, and we will make sure that in future reports the correct terminology is used.
References
- Fernández-Niño, J.A. Suicide: Incidence or prevalence? Comment on Hernández-Alvarado et al. Increase in Suicide Rates by Hanging in the Population of Tabasco, Mexico between 2003 and 2012. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2016, 13, 552. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2016, 13. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Hernández-Alvarado, M.; González-Castro, T.; Tovilla-Zárate, C.; Fresán, A.; Juárez-Rojop, I.; López-Narváez, M.; Villar-Soto, M.; Genis-Mendoza, A. Increase in suicide rates by hanging in the population of tabasco, mexico between 2003 and 2012. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2016, 13, 552. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
© 2016 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).