Is There An Association Between Economic Crisis, Unemployment and Suicide?

Grégoire Rey Directeur du CépiDc CépiDc-Inserm Hopitâl Bicêtre FranceMedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Grégoire Rey
Directeur du CépiDc
CépiDc-Inserm
Hopitâl Bicêtre France

MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study?

Dr. Rey: We found that, between 2000 and 2010, unemployment and suicide rates were globally associatedin eight Western European countries (Austria, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and the UK). However, this ecological association was weak (0.3% increase in suicide rate for a 10% increase in unemployment rate). Across countries, it was inconsistently confounded by the effect of other concomitant features of the economic crisis.

MedicalResearch: Were any of the findings unexpected?

Dr. Rey: Although France has one of the highest OECD employment protection indexes among the analyzed countries, it has the strongest central estimation of the unemployment–suicide association, with a 1.9% increase in suicide rate for a 10% increase in unemployment rate. This is an unexpected result on the basis of the conclusions of Stuckler and collaborators’ study (The public health effect of economic crises and alternative policy responses in Europe: an empirical analysis. Lancet 2009), which found that expenses on labor market policies could mitigate the increase in suicides during economic crises.

MedicalResearch: What should policy makers and the general population take away from your report?

Dr. Rey: The associations highlighted between the economic crisis, unemployment, and suicide mortality are weak, and vary according to the country. They are deeply sensitive to the socio-economic and cultural context of each country. Thus, these associations should not be considered as causal.

MedicalResearch: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?

Dr. Rey: Our study highlights that the unemployment-suicide association is inconsistently confounded by the effect of other concomitant features of the economic crisis. This inconsistency provides arguments against its causal interpretation. Identifying the actual origins of suicide increase during the financial crisis appears essential in order to implement efficient public health policies. Further research should explore individual data including professional status, with a sufficiently wide cohort as suicides remain relatively rare events.

Citation:

Impact of unemployment variations on suicide mortality in Western European countries (2000-2010)Moussa Laanani,Walid Ghosn,Eric Jougla, Grégoire Rey

J Epidemiol Community Health jech-2013-203624Published Online First: 18 June 2014 doi:10.1136/jech-2013-203624

 

Last Updated on June 23, 2014 by Marie Benz MD FAAD