OBJECTIVE: To investigate differences in suicide risk among immigrant population in Norway compared with native Norwegians, with respect to associated country group of origin.
METHODS: Based on the entire national population, a nested case-control design was adopted using Norwegian national longitudinal registers to obtain 23 073 suicide cases having occurred in 1969-2012 and 373 178 controls. Odds ratios (ORs) for suicide were estimated using conditional logistic regression analysis adjusting for socio-economic factors.
RESULTS: Compared with native Norwegians, suicide risk was significantly lower in first- and second-generation immigrants but higher in Norwegian-born with one foreign-born parent and foreign-born individuals with at least one Norwegian-born parent. When stratifying data by country group of origin, first-generation immigrants had lower ORs in most of the strata. Subjects born in Asia and in Central and South America with at least one Norwegian-born parent had a significantly higher risk of suicide. The observed results remained mostly unchanged in the analyses controlled for socio-economic status.
CONCLUSIONS: Suicide risk is lower in first- and second-generation immigrants but higher in subjects born in Norway with one foreign-born parent and those born abroad with at least one Norwegian-born parent, with notable differences by country group of origin.