Religion and Assisted and Non-Assisted Suicide in Switzerland: National Cohort Study

The authors examined religious affiliation & suicide in Switzerland. The 2000 census records of 1,722,456 Catholics, 1,565,452 Protestants, & 454,397 individuals with no affiliation were linked to mortality records up to December 2005. The association between religious affiliation & suicide, with the Protestant faith serving as the reference category, was examined in Cox regression models. Suicide rates per 100,000 inhabitants were 19.7 in Catholics, 28.5 in Protestants, & 39.0 in those with no affiliation. Associations with religion were modified by age & gender. The protective effect of a religious affiliation appeared to be stronger in Catholics than Protestants, in older than in younger people, in women than in men, & particularly strong for assisted suicides. (35 refs.) JA

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