Psychiatric Health, Ethnicity and Socioeconomic Factors among Suicides in Stockholm

Abstract

The suicide statistics for two high-income areas and two low-income areas of Stockholm county, with, respectively, low and high proportions of immigrant residents, were compared on health and socioeconomic factors to ascertain whether differences in such indicators might explain the overrepresentation of immigrants previously found by us in cases of definite and undetermined suicide. The findings can be summarised as follows (1) The suicide rate was higher in the low-income areas, irrespective of ethnicity, and highest in the immigrant population of the low-income areas which accounted for 82% of all immigrants in the areas studied. (2) The suicide rate was inversely correlated with the respective figures for mean municipality-income indices. (3) Over the 4-yr. study period, the annual suicide rate increased among immigrants and decreased among native Swedes. (4) Of all categories investigated, immigrants from the low-income areas were characterised by the highest suicide rate (39 per 100,000) and the lowest mean annual income among the suicide victims (77.7), and native Swedes from the high-income areas by the lowest suicide rate (16.2) and the highest mean income (254.1). (5) The low-income areas manifested also lower mean duration of hospitalisation in primary care and psychiatric facilities, although the frequency of psychiatric consultations was higher in low- than in high-income areas. Imerrelations among low income, immigrant status, and poor benefit of psychiatric care suggest that proneness to suicidal behaviour among immigrants may have a social psychiatric explanation.