Suicide trends in Norway during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic. A register-based cohort study

• Published in: European psychiatry 2022-04, Vol.65 (1), p.1-24, Article e26
• Main Authors: Stene-Larsen, K, Raknes, G, Engdahl, B, Qin, P, Mehlum, L, Strøm, M S, Reneflot, A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cohort analysis; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; pandemic; Pandemics; suicide; Suicides & suicide attempts
• ISSN: 0924-9338; 1778-3585
• DOI: 10.1192/j.eurpsy.2022.17

BackgroundThere is a concern that the COVID-19 pandemic will lead to an increase in suicides. Several reports from the first months of the pandemic showed no increase in suicide rates while studies with longer observation times report contrasting results. In this study, we explore the suicide rates in Norway during the first year of the pandemic for the total population as well as for relevant subgroups such as sex, age, geographical areas, and pandemic phases.MethodsThis is a cohort study covering the entire Norwegian population between 2010 and 2020. The main outcome was age-standardized suicide rates (per 100,000 inhabitants) in 2020 according to the Norwegian Cause of Death Registry. This was compared with 95% prediction intervals (95% PI) based on the suicide rates between 2010 and 2019.ResultsIn 2020, there were 639 suicides in Norway corresponding to a rate of 12.1 per 100,000 (95% PI 10.2–14.4). There were no significant deviations from the predicted values for suicides in 2020 when analyzing age, sex, pandemic phase, or geographical area separately. We observed a trend toward a lower than predicted suicide rate among females (6.5, 95% PI 6.0–9.2), and during the two COVID-19 outbreak phases in 2020 (2.8, 95% PI 2.3–4.3 and 2.8, 95% CI 2.3–4.3).ConclusionThere is no indication that the COVID-19 pandemic led to an increase in suicide rates in Norway in 2020.