Suicide Rates in Nordic Prisons 2000–2016

Britt Reuter Morthorst; Lars Mehlum; Sigurdur P. Pàlsson; Charlotte Mühlmann; Yngve Hammerlin; Trine Madsen; Merete Nordentoft; Annette Erlangsen

doi:10.1080/13811118.2020.1746943

Suicide Rates in Nordic Prisons 2000–2016

Britt Reuter Morthorst^*, Lars Mehlum, Sigurdur P. Pàlsson, Charlotte Mühlmann, Yngve Hammerlin, Trine Madsen, Merete Nordentoft, Annette Erlangsen

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Objective: To compare suicide rates of people in prison and the general population in the Nordic countries. Methods: Data on deaths by suicide and person-years for people in prison and the general population were obtained for the Nordic countries during 2000–2016. Age-standardized rate ratios were calculated. Results: The suicide rate in the Nordic countries overall was 110.1 (95% CI = 98.1, 122.2) per 100,000 person-years for people in prison. A significant decline was noted for the suicide rate of people in prison between 2000 and 2016 (p< 0.0001). The age-standardized mortality ratio was 7.4 (95% CI = 5.9–8.2) for males and 17.8 (95% CI = 7.3–33.2) for females in Denmark, Iceland, and Norway. Conclusion: Despite a decreasing trend over time, excess suicide mortality was noted for people in prison.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	704-714
Number of pages	11
Journal	Archives of Suicide Research
Volume	25
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/13811118.2020.1746943
Publication status	Published - 2021

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10.1080/13811118.2020.1746943

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title = "Suicide Rates in Nordic Prisons 2000–2016",

abstract = "Objective: To compare suicide rates of people in prison and the general population in the Nordic countries. Methods: Data on deaths by suicide and person-years for people in prison and the general population were obtained for the Nordic countries during 2000–2016. Age-standardized rate ratios were calculated. Results: The suicide rate in the Nordic countries overall was 110.1 (95% CI = 98.1, 122.2) per 100,000 person-years for people in prison. A significant decline was noted for the suicide rate of people in prison between 2000 and 2016 (p< 0.0001). The age-standardized mortality ratio was 7.4 (95% CI = 5.9–8.2) for males and 17.8 (95% CI = 7.3–33.2) for females in Denmark, Iceland, and Norway. Conclusion: Despite a decreasing trend over time, excess suicide mortality was noted for people in prison.",

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author = "Morthorst, {Britt Reuter} and Lars Mehlum and P{\`a}lsson, {Sigurdur P.} and Charlotte M{\"u}hlmann and Yngve Hammerlin and Trine Madsen and Merete Nordentoft and Annette Erlangsen",

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year = "2021",

doi = "10.1080/13811118.2020.1746943",

language = "English",

volume = "25",

pages = "704--714",

journal = "Archives of Suicide Research",

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T1 - Suicide Rates in Nordic Prisons 2000–2016

AU - Morthorst, Britt Reuter

AU - Mehlum, Lars

AU - Pàlsson, Sigurdur P.

AU - Mühlmann, Charlotte

AU - Hammerlin, Yngve

AU - Madsen, Trine

AU - Nordentoft, Merete

AU - Erlangsen, Annette

PY - 2021

Y1 - 2021

N2 - Objective: To compare suicide rates of people in prison and the general population in the Nordic countries. Methods: Data on deaths by suicide and person-years for people in prison and the general population were obtained for the Nordic countries during 2000–2016. Age-standardized rate ratios were calculated. Results: The suicide rate in the Nordic countries overall was 110.1 (95% CI = 98.1, 122.2) per 100,000 person-years for people in prison. A significant decline was noted for the suicide rate of people in prison between 2000 and 2016 (p< 0.0001). The age-standardized mortality ratio was 7.4 (95% CI = 5.9–8.2) for males and 17.8 (95% CI = 7.3–33.2) for females in Denmark, Iceland, and Norway. Conclusion: Despite a decreasing trend over time, excess suicide mortality was noted for people in prison.

AB - Objective: To compare suicide rates of people in prison and the general population in the Nordic countries. Methods: Data on deaths by suicide and person-years for people in prison and the general population were obtained for the Nordic countries during 2000–2016. Age-standardized rate ratios were calculated. Results: The suicide rate in the Nordic countries overall was 110.1 (95% CI = 98.1, 122.2) per 100,000 person-years for people in prison. A significant decline was noted for the suicide rate of people in prison between 2000 and 2016 (p< 0.0001). The age-standardized mortality ratio was 7.4 (95% CI = 5.9–8.2) for males and 17.8 (95% CI = 7.3–33.2) for females in Denmark, Iceland, and Norway. Conclusion: Despite a decreasing trend over time, excess suicide mortality was noted for people in prison.

KW - Age-standardized rate ratio

KW - Nordic countries

KW - imprisonment

KW - prison

KW - suicide

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DO - 10.1080/13811118.2020.1746943

M3 - Article

SN - 1381-1118

VL - 25

SP - 704

EP - 714

JO - Archives of Suicide Research

JF - Archives of Suicide Research

IS - 3

ER -

Suicide Rates in Nordic Prisons 2000–2016

Abstract

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