No increase in suicide and alcohol mortality during the pandemic in Sweden

Photo: Yuri Arcurs/Mostphotos

Socioeconomic differences in mortality risk have been documented across a wide range of causes of death. However, knowledge of the socioeconomic profile of COVID-19 mortality is limited. Similarly, the mapping of indirect negative consequences of the pandemic, such as suicide and alcohol problems along socio-economic lines, is still lacking.

Therefore, Thor Norström, professor emeritus at the Swedish Institute for Social Research at Stockholm University, wanted to study the issue in more detail together with Mats Ramstedt, researcher at Karolinska Institutet.

When comparing the development in suicide and alcohol-related mortality during the pandemic with the development before the pandemic, the researchers found no difference either for the population at large, or different subgroups defined by gender and education. The researchers studied the period March 2020 to December 2021 and January 2016 to February 2020.

"Our results are interesting in an overall assessment of the Swedish public health policy during the pandemic. However, it should be emphasized that we only analyzed the short-term effects of the pandemic on serious forms of alcohol-related harm and psychological problems, which is why it is important to follow up on long-term consequences," says Thor Norström.

Another finding that emerges from the study is a marked socioeconomic difference in COVID-19 mortality among the working-age population (25-64), where individuals with a pre-secondary education had a nearly fivefold risk compared to those with a post-secondary education. This difference is somewhat greater than for mortality in general.

The study ”The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mortality in Sweden – did it differ across socioeconomic groups?” was published in European Journal of Epidemiology (January 5, 2024).