[Reliability of Norwegian suicide statistics]

Abstract

New laws have radically changed the registration procedure of suicides in Norway, and a new Death Certificate Form makes it more difficult for doctors to cover up a suicide. The changes in the registration procedure may be responsible for a substantial part of the alarming rise in the Norwegian suicide rate from the 60's to the 80's. The Norwegian and the Danish suicide rates from the early 60's are not at all comparable. Neither are the Norwegian rates of the 60's comparable to those of the 80's. A comparison between suicide rates in different countries is near to worthless without an intimate knowledge of the basis for the diagnosis of suicide in the countries concerned.