Suicide
SYNOPSIS
The burden of disease from the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic is large; however, suicide affects the population year after year.
TITLE
Comparison of Years of Life Lost to 1,565 Suicides Versus 10,650 Covid-19 Deaths in 2020 in Sweden: Four Times More Years of Life Lost Per Suicide Than Per COVID-19 Death
CITATION
R. Ljung, M. Grünewald, A. Sundström, L. Thunander Sundbom, & B. Zethelius (2022), “Comparison of Years of Life Lost to 1,565 Suicides Versus 10,650 Covid-19 Deaths in 2020 in Sweden: Four Times More Years of Life Lost Per Suicide Than Per COVID-19 Death,” Upsala Journal of Medical Sciences, 127(1), https://doi.org/10.48101/ujms.v127.8533.
SUMMARY
Years of life lost (YLL) to suicide affects Sweden year after year, foremost attributable to the younger age groups, whereas YLL to COVID-19 is foremost attributable to the elderly. On average, each suicide generates four times more YLL than a COVID-19 death. Enormous efforts and resources have been put on tackling the pandemic, and without these, the burden would probably have been much larger. However, from a public health perspective, it is important to not neglect other contributors to the total burden of disease where national efforts also may have an impact.