Effect of Psychiatric Illness and Labour Market Status on Suicide: a Healthy Worker Effect?

The association between labour market status & death by sucide with focus on admission for a psychiatric disorder was examined using a nested case-control study. 9011 Danish people, aged 25-60 years, who died by suicide during 1982-1997 & 180220 matched controls were included. In the general population, not being fully employed is associated with a 2-fold to 3-fold increased relative risk of death by suicide, compared with being fully employed. In contrast, fully employed people who have been first admitted to a psyhiatric hopsital within the past year are at an increased suicide risk. Results suggest little or an inverse association between unemployment & suicide in people with psychiatric illness. (51 refs.)