This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Mäki, N. E. Articles by Martikainen, P. T. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Mäki, N. E. Articles by Martikainen, P. T. Pubmed/NCBI databases Medline Plus Health Information Suicide Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Socioeconomic differences in suicide mortality by sex in Finland in 1971—2000: A register-based study of trends, levels, and life expectancy differences

Population Research Unit, Department of Sociology, University of Helsinki, Finland, netta.maki{at}helsinki.fi

Pekka T. Martikainen

Population Research Unit, Department of Sociology, University of Helsinki, Finland, International Centre for Health and Society, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London Medical School, UK

Aim: Suicide is a common cause of death in many Western countries and it has been predicted to become even more common worldwide. The authors analysed socioeconomic differences and trends in Finnish suicide mortality, and assessed the relevance to public health by calculating socioeconomic differences in years of life expectancy lost attributable to suicide. Data and methods: Census records were used, linked with the death records of men and women aged 25 years and over in 1971—2000 in Finland. Results: Suicide among male and female manual workers was 2.3 and 1.3 times higher respectively than among upper non-manual workers. The differences were largest among those in their thirties. Because of the decline in suicide among upper non-manual workers and a slower decrease or even an increase among other socioeconomic groups, the relative mortality differences increased somewhat during 1970—90, then decreased in the 1990s but remained higher than in the 1970s. In 1991—2000 the suicide-related life expectancy gap between the upper non-manual and manual male workers was 0.6 years, and this difference contributed 10% to the total difference in years of life expectancy lost between these socioeconomic groups. Conclusion: Large and persistent socioeconomic differences were found in suicide mortality and suicide was an important component of the socioeconomic difference in total mortality. Reducing these differences could significantly improve equity in health and reduce the burden of excess mortality.

Key Words: Life expectancy differences • socioeconomic differences • suicide mortality • trends

Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, Vol. 35, No. 4, 387-395 (2007)
DOI: 10.1080/14034940701219618


CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. Beckfield and N. Krieger Epi + demos + cracy: Linking Political Systems and Priorities to the Magnitude of Health Inequities--Evidence, Gaps, and a Research Agenda Epidemiol. Rev., June 9, 2009; (2009) mxp002v2. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M Gissler, O Rahkonen, A Arntzen, S Cnattingius, A-M N. Andersen, and E Hemminki Trends in socioeconomic differences in Finnish perinatal health 1991-2006 J Epidemiol Community Health, June 1, 2009; 63(6): 420 - 425. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]