Strong inverse association between height and suicide in a large cohort of Swedish men: evidence of early life origins of suicidal behavior?
OBJECTIVE
Previous studies have found associations between poor fetal and infant growth and the risk of suicide. The authors' goal was to investigate the association between height--a measure of childhood growth--and suicide risk.


METHODS
The authors conducted a record linkage study of the birth, conscription, mortality, family, and census register data of 1,299,177 Swedish men followed from age 18 to a maximum of age 49.


RESULTS
There were 3,075 suicides over an average follow-up period of 15 years. There was a strong inverse association between height and suicide risk. In fully adjusted models, a 5-cm increase in height was associated with a 9% decrease in suicide risk.


CONCLUSIONS
The strong inverse association between height and suicide may signify the importance of childhood exposure in the etiology of adult mental disorder or reflect stigmatization or discrimination encountered by short men in their adult lives.
Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institute, Norrbacka, SE-171 76 Stockholm, Sweden.
Patrik K E
PK
Magnusson
David
D
Gunnell
Per
P
Tynelius
George
G
Davey Smith
Finn
F
Rasmussen
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001827:Body Height / Q000502:physiology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D015331:Cohort Studies; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006128:Growth / Q000502:physiology; D006803:Human Development / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D011287:Prejudice; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012307:Risk Factors; D013240:Stereotyping; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology