OBJECTIVE: Increasing rates of disability pension (DP) have been observed among young adults. We studied specific psychiatric DP diagnoses and subsequent risk of suicidal behaviour in a series of three cohorts of young adult in Sweden.

METHOD: In a nationwide register study, we included all young adults who in 1995, 2000, and 2005, respectively, were 19-23 years old and lived in Sweden (n≈500,000 per cohort). Rates of DP and specific psychiatric DP diagnoses were recorded in each cohort. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for suicidal behaviour during the following five years, with the corresponding age group as reference, were calculated by Cox proportional hazard regression, adjusted for demographic variables and previous own and parental suicidal behaviour.

RESULTS: The overall proportion with DP in this age group increased from 0.92% in 1995 to 2.29% in 2005, with particularly large increases in psychiatric diagnoses such as hyperkinetic disorders, pervasive developmental disorders, and depression/anxiety. The overall proportion of young disability pensioners attempting suicide during the five-year follow-up increased from 2.21% in the 1995 cohort to 3.81% in the 2005 cohort. Within most psychiatric DP diagnoses, the risk of attempted suicide did not change significantly over time, whereas suicide attempts increased in the reference group. Accordingly, the HRs for suicide attempt decreased in some psychiatric DP diagnoses. The highest adjusted HRs were observed for depression/anxiety (16.41; CI: 9.06 to 29.74) and schizophrenia (9.37; 6.13 to 14.31) in the 1995 cohort. The rate of suicide among young disability pensioners during follow-up ranged from 0.19% in 1995 to 0.37% in 2005, mainly occurring in individuals with psychiatric diagnoses.