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Suicide in married couples in Sweden: Is the risk greater in same-sex couples?

European Journal of Epidemiology volume 31, pages 685–690 (2016)Cite this article

Abstract

Minority sexual orientation is a predictor of suicide ideation and attempts, though its association with suicide mortality is less clear. We capitalize on Sweden’s extensively linked databases, to investigate whether, among married individuals, same-sex marriage is associated with suicide. Using a population-based register design, we analyzed suicide risk among same-sex married women and men (n = 6456), as compared to different-sex married women and men (n = 1181723) in Sweden. We selected all newly partnered or married individuals in the intervening time between 1/1/1996 and 12/31/2009 and followed them with regard to suicide until 12/31/2011. Multivariate Poisson regression was used to calculate adjusted incidence risk ratios (IRR) with 95 % confidence intervals (CI). The risk of suicide was higher among same-sex married individuals as compared to different-sex married individuals (IRR 2.7, 95 % CI 1.5–4.8), after adjustment for time at risk and socioeconomic confounding. Sex-stratified analyses showed a tentatively elevated risk for same-sex married women (IRR 2.5, 95 % CI 0.8–7.7) as compared to different-sex married women. Among same-sex married men the suicide risk was nearly three-fold greater as compared to different-sex married (IRR 2.895 % CI 1.5–5.5). This holds true also after adjustment for HIV status. Even in a country with a comparatively tolerant climate regarding homosexuality such as Sweden, same-sex married individuals evidence a higher risk for suicide than other married individuals.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Wenner-Gren Foundations and the Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet) via the Stockholm University SIMSAM Node for Demographic Research, Grant 340-2013-5164.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Charlotte Björkenstam & Susan Cochran

  2. Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

    Charlotte Björkenstam

  3. Department of Sociology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

    Charlotte Björkenstam & Gunnar Andersson

  4. Department of Public Health Science, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

    Christina Dalman & Kyriaki Kosidou

Authors
  1. Charlotte Björkenstam
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  2. Gunnar Andersson
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  3. Christina Dalman
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  4. Susan Cochran
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  5. Kyriaki Kosidou
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Correspondence to Charlotte Björkenstam.

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Björkenstam, C., Andersson, G., Dalman, C. et al. Suicide in married couples in Sweden: Is the risk greater in same-sex couples?. Eur J Epidemiol 31, 685–690 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-016-0154-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-016-0154-6

Keywords

  • Sexual minority
  • LGBT
  • Gay
  • Lesbian
  • Homosexual
  • Suicide
  • Marriage
  • Registered partnership