Paediatric suicide data
Documentation files
Documentation files
Citation and access
Citation and access
Data access level:
Creator/Principal investigator(s):
Research principal:
Data contains personal data:
No
Citation:
Language:
Method and outcome
Method and outcome
Population:
Swedish children and adolescents who, at the age of 10-17 (excl. 0-9 year), died by suicide during the 44-year period 1980-2023 (ICD-diagnoses: E950-E959, X60-X84). Dataset version 2 does not contain deaths with undetermined intent (ICD-diagnoses: E980-E989, Y10-Y34). Version 1 did, however.
Time method:
Study design:
- Ecological study
- Observational study
Description of study design:
Ecological study design, where the Swedish pediatric population (boys and girls aged 10-17 and 10-14) is analyzed as a time series. The purpose of the analysis is to detect trends and patterns over several years. All cases are dead individuals, observed in a retrospective manner through vital records. The design is not truly longitudinal, as humans only die once, and cannot be followed up.
Sampling procedure:
Description of sampling:
This is an aggregated dataset. It uses data from two other datasets which are not linked, but inferred by year. The primary source is the Swedish cause of death register, reflecting cause-of-death certificates at the individual-level (one death per row). These cause-of-death data were originally provided by the National Board of Social Affairs and Health, requested by the National Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, NASP Sweden (data delivery on 2024-September-26; Socialstyrelsen Dnr.: 122437/2023). The original file contained high-quality, detailed, nation-wide, individual-level data, restricted to maximum 44 years (1980-2023) and restricted to only contain deaths related to suicide and deaths with undetermined intent. The individual-level data is referred to as the “Original Data file”; it requires special permission to use and will not be shared. The shared dataset is referred to as the “Raw Dataset” because planned analyses only rely on annually aggregated data that allows for independent replication. At the first step, all death counts were extracted for age groups 0-9, 10-14, and 10-17, respectively (note, however, that the youngest age group only comprises <5 suicides and are omitted from the timeseries dataset). Secondly, the data was aggregated by year but stratified by sex (Both Sexes, Males, Females). The resulting annual counts appear in the dataset as 9 columns with 264 rows (44 years * 6 groups). The second data source was used to extract and calculate the male and female mid-year population counts for the same groups. Mid-year counts are derived from end-year population counts (e.g., 1979+1980/2 = Mid-year count for 1980). The population data is public domain, and free access was provided by Statistics Sweden (SCB, 2025). Population data appears in separate columns in the dataset, so that suicide rates (e.g., per 100 000 capita) can be modelled with or without them, and if necessary, model suicide rates with heteroscedastic standard errors (e.g., should it turn out that the population sizes for males and females differ a lot).
Time period(s) investigated:
Variables:
9
Number of individuals/objects:
878
Weighting:
Weighting is not used. Only the population size for boys and girls, respectively, which can be used to calculate the crude suicide rate per (100 000) capita.
Response rate/participation rate:
0.05%
Description of the response rate/participation rate:
The dataset comprises a total of N=878 deaths over 44 years, so 5% (i.e. 44/878=0,05) of the total deaths are expected to occur in any given year (approximately 20 deaths, in absolute terms). However, if many of the years deviate, and deviates a lot from this percentage, this might indicate that a significant time trend has been observed – or that two or more linear time trends are observed (e.g. a V-shaped curve connected with 1 joinpoint at the bottom of the V). This assumes that boys and girls follow the same time trend, which might not be true. But if any gender has many years deviating from its expected percentage, this can imply a time*sex interaction (if not pure data noise).
Data format/data structure:
Data collection - Registry extract and/or access to biobank sample
Data collection - Registry extract and/or access to biobank sample
Mode of collection:
Registry extract and/or access to biobank sample
Description of the mode of collection:
Individual-level data are typically based on forensic cause-of-death certificates, processed and curated by Socialstyrelsen (the National Board of Health and Welfare). Through an application to Socialstyrelsen, individual-level data concerning suicides (and suspected suicides) were accessed and examined. Relevant cases were selected and aggregated on a national and annual basis. Only the aggregated dataset was subject to formal analysis.
Time period(s) for data collection:
1980-01-01 - 2023-12-31
Data collector:
- National Board of Health and Welfare
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Sample size:
878
Number of responses:
878
Source of the data:
- Registers/Records/Accounts: Medical/Clinical
- Registers/Records/Accounts
Geographic coverage
Geographic coverage
Geographic location:
Geographic description:
The dataset covers Sweden on a national level. More granular data is not presented due to ethical considerations. Swedes who die abroad are still tied to their Swedish home-municipality (where they officially resided while being abroad). People who die by suicide whilst living or visiting Sweden, without being registered residents, might create bias. Such cases have not always been included in the cause-of-death register, but are more likely to become included since 2012, but with a certain delay.
Lowest geographic unit:
Country
Highest geographic unit:
Country
Administrative information
Administrative information
Responsible department/unit:
Department of Learning, Informatics, Management and Ethics [C7]
Contributor(s):
Socialstyrelsen data Dnr:
122437/2023
Ethics Review 1:
Swedish Ethical Review Authority - 2023-04783-01
Ethical permission for NASP to analyse and report aggregated data. issued: 2023-October-29
Ethics Review 2:
Swedish Ethical Review Authority - 2024-07193-02
An extention of the previous ethical permit (2023-04783-01) which grants NASP to also share aggregated registry data with international researcher partners and scientific journals, to contribute to global research collaborations. Issued: 2024-December-29.
Topic and keywords
Topic and keywords
Standard för svensk indelning av forskningsämnen 2025:
Relations
Relations
Publications
Publications
Citation:
Citation:
Citation:
Citation:
Versions
Versions
Version:
Data corrected:
Version 2 allows both sexes to be analysed jointly, in addition to sex separated analyses. Deaths with undetermined intent have been removed.
Published:
Metadata
Metadata
Versions
Versions
Version:
Data corrected:
Version 2 allows both sexes to be analysed jointly, in addition to sex separated analyses. Deaths with undetermined intent have been removed.
Published:
