Læknablaðið - nóv. 2019, Blaðsíða 16
488 LÆKNAblaðið 2019/105
Introduction: Suicides are number 16 as a cause of death
worldwide. Causes are not always known, often associated with
depression or trauma. Suicide incidence has decreased world-
wide in the past three decades. The economic crisis of 2008 led
to an increase in many countries. Many confounding factors make
comparisons between countries difficult. This study assesses the
possible impact of economic crises in Iceland on suicide incidence.
Material and Methods: The work is based on suicide data from
1911 to 2017 and six economic crises from 1918 to 2008. The
incidence is calculated five and ten years before and after the index
year of each crisis. Possible crisis impact was assessed by app-
lying a quasi-Poisson model to the data. Variance can be greater
than model shows, so overdispersion was assessed. The evolution
over time is assessed by inspection of cumulative sum of squared
residuals (CUSUMSQ).
Results: Suicide incidence increased from 1930, beginning to
decline around 1990. Given a small population size there are wide
upwards incidence fluctuations, within and outside the crisis
periods. The crises of 1931 and 1948 showed an increase, wheras in
the others there is no change or a decrease. The sizes of deviations
from expected value are, for the whole period, in compliance with
the quasi-poisson model for counts.
Conclusion: There is no statistical correlation between the six
economic crises and suicide incidence in the Icelandic data. The
study is based on population incidence and does not preclude a
negative impact of economic crises on individuals.
Economic crises and incidence of suicide in Iceland 1911-2017
ENGLISH SUMMARY
1Humus Inc., 2Laekning Inc., 3Forensic Psychiatry and Security unit Landspitali University Hospital, 4Faculty of Economics, University of Iceland.
Key words: Economic crisis, Iceland, Suicide, century, quasi-Poisson model, time series.
Correspondence: Högni Óskarsson, hogni@humus.is
Högni Óskarsson1
Kristinn Tómasson2
Sigurður P. Pálsson3
Helgi Tómasson4
DOI: 10.17992/lbl.2019.11.255
1. worldlifeexpectancy.com/world-rankings-total-deaths -
janúar 2019.
2. Preventing suicides: A global imperative. World Health
Organization 2014.
3. Titelman D, Oskarsson H, Wahlbeck K, Nordentoft M,
Mehlum L, Jiang G-X, et al. Suicide mortality trends in the
Nordic countries 1980 – 2009. Nord J Psychiatr 2013; 67:
414-23.
4. Lee L, Roser M, Ortiz-Ospina E. Suicide. Our World in
Data. ourworldindata.org/suicide - júlí 2016.
5. National Institute of Mental Health. nimh.nih.gov/health/
statistics/suicide.shtml - desember 2018.
6. Bertolote JM, Fleischmann A. A Global Perspective in the
Epidemiology of Suicide. Suicidology 2002; 7: 2.
7. Chang S, Stuckler D, Yip P, Gunnell D. Impact of 2008
global economic crisis on suicide: time trend studies in 54
countries. BMJ 2013; 347: 5239.
8. Kegler SR, Stone DM, Holland KM. Trends in Suicide
by Level of Urbanization - United States, 1999-2015.
MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2017; 66: 270-3.
9. Norström T, Grönquist H. The Great Recession, unemploy-
ment and suicides. J Epidemiol Community Health 2015;
69: 110-6.
10. Iglesias-García C, Sáiz PA, Burón P, Sánchez-Lasheras
F, Jiménez-Treviño L, Fernández- Artamendi S, et al.
Suicide, unemployment, and economic recession in Spain.
Rev Psiquiatr Salud Ment 2017; 10: 70-7.
11. Hintikka J, Saarinen PI, Vinamäki H. Suicide mortality in
Finland during an economic cycle 1985-1995. Scand J of
Public Health 1999; 2: 85-8.
12. De Vogli R, Gimeno D. Changes in income equality ad
suicides after „shock therapy“ evidence from Eastern
Europe. J Epidemol Community Health 2009; 63: 956.
13. Chang SS, Gunnell D, Sterne JA, Lu TH, Cheng AT. Was
the economic crisis 1997-1998 responsible for rising
suicide rates in East/Southeast Asia? A time-trend analysis
for Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore
and Thailand. Soc Sci Med 2009; 68: 1322-31.
14. Koo J, Cox WM. An economic interpretation of suicide
cycles in Japan Research Department Working Paper 0603.
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, 2006.
15. Harper S, Bruckner TA. Did the Great Recession increase
suicides in the USA? Evidence from an interrupted time-
-series analysis. Ann Epidemiol 2017; 27; 409-14.
16. Harper S, Charters TJ, Strumpf EC, Galea S, Nandi A.
Economic downturns and suicide mortality in the USA
1980-2010: Observational study. Int J Epidemiology 2015;
44; 956-66.
17. Huikari S, Miettunen J, Korhonen M. J. Economic crises
and suicides between 1970 and 2011. Time-trend study
in 21 developed countries. Epidemiol Community Health
2019; 73: 311-6.
18. Ferrie J., Westerlund H, Oxenstierna G, Theorell T. The
impact of moderate and major workplace expansion
and downsizing on the psychosocial and physical work
environment and income in Sweden. Scand J Public
Health 2007; 35: 62-9.
19. Einarsson BG, Gunnlaugsson K, Ólafsson ÞT, Pétursson Þ.
The long history of financial boom-bust cycles in Iceland.
Part I: Financial crises. Seðlabanki Íslands 2015.
20. hagstofa.is - desember 2018.
21. landlaeknir.is - desember 2018.
22. who.int/classifications/icd/ - desember 2018.
23. McCullagh P, Nelder J. Generalized Linear Models.
Chapman and Hall, London 1983.
24. Harvey A. The Econometric Analysis of Time Series.
Philip Allan, Hertfortshire 1981.
25. Sigurðsson P, Jónsdóttir G. Sjálfsvíg á Norðurlöndum
1880-1980. Samanburður milli landa og hugsanlegar
skráningarskekkjur. Læknablaðið 1985; 71: 86-90.
26. Jónsson G, Magnússon MS, Snorrason H. Hagskinna.
Hagstofa Íslands, Reykjavík 1997.
27. Martin-Carrasco M, Evans-Lacko S, Dom G, Christodoulou
NG, Samochowiec J, González-Fraile, et al. EPA guidance
on mental health and economic crises in Europe 2016. Eur
Arch Psych Clin Neurosci 2016; 266; 89-124.
28. Pálsson SP. Sjálfsvígsáhættumat og viðeigandi meðferð.
Geðvernd 2018; 47: 6-17.
Heimildir
Barst til blaðsins 26. mars 2019, samþykkt til birtingar 17. september 2019.
R A N N S Ó K N