| Title |
Season of birth is different in Inuit suicide victims born into Traditional than into Modern Lifestyle: a register study from Greenland
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
BMC Psychiatry, July 2015
|
| DOI | 10.1186/s12888-015-0506-x |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Karin S Björkstén, Peter Bjerregaard |
| Abstract |
There is growing evidence that living conditions at birth play a role in medical conditions later in life. Population-based studies from the Northern Hemisphere have shown that persons born in the spring or summer are at greater risk of committing suicide. A statistical correlation with light availability at birth has been observed in past research, but the cause remains unknown. Greenland is one of the most extreme of natural human habitats with regard to seasonal changes in light. The combination of rapid social changes and reliable population statistics offers a unique opportunity to make comparisons between persons born into a Traditional Lifestyle and those born into a Modern Lifestyle. The aim of this work was to assess whether season of birth differed between suicide victims born into an old or into a modern lifestyle. Official population and mortality registers were used. Suicide victims born (1903-1950) into the Traditional Lifestyle were compared with those born into the Modern Lifestyle (1961-1980). Rayleigh's test for circular distributions was used to assess the season of birth in suicide victims. Data regarding season of birth in the general population were collected. Persons born in March-June in the Traditional Lifestyle were much less likely to commit suicide than those born during other periods of the year. This is contrary to the findings of other studies. The seasonal differences had disappeared for those born into the Modern Lifestyle. The suicide rate increased from very low rates to about 140 suicides/100 000 person-years in the 1980s. The reason behind a variation in season of birth in suicide victims born into the old lifestyle is unknown. It is also unknown why the seasonal difference had disappeared with modern lifestyle. Possible influence of artificial light, nutrition, microbiota and seasonal infections are discussed. The underlying causes behind suicides may be different in traditional and modern Greenland. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 5 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 1 | 20% |
| Greece | 1 | 20% |
| Unknown | 3 | 60% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 3 | 60% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 2 | 40% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 63 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 63 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Bachelor | 9 | 14% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 7 | 11% |
| Researcher | 7 | 11% |
| Student > Master | 7 | 11% |
| Student > Doctoral Student | 6 | 10% |
| Other | 14 | 22% |
| Unknown | 13 | 21% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Medicine and Dentistry | 17 | 27% |
| Psychology | 8 | 13% |
| Social Sciences | 7 | 11% |
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 4 | 6% |
| Nursing and Health Professions | 4 | 6% |
| Other | 9 | 14% |
| Unknown | 14 | 22% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 2. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 06 July 2015.
All research outputs
#13,441,654
of 22,816,807 outputs
Outputs from BMC Psychiatry
#2,816
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Outputs of similar age
#123,629
of 262,801 outputs
Outputs of similar age from BMC Psychiatry
#52
of 78 outputs
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