Scandinavian routines and practices in the registration of suicide

Procedures followed in reporting and registering death in each of the Scandinavian countries are scrutinized to find out whether the pronounced difference in the suicide rates between Norway and the other Scandinavian countries might be due to the under-reporting of suicide in Norway. A survey is also given of the practices followed when classifying and coding cause-of-death. The routine and practice followed when registering, classifying and coding varies considerably from country to country. However, none of the procedural differences could explain the low Norwegian rates and the Norwegian suicide statistics were found to be at least as accurate and reliable as those in Denmark, Finland or Sweden.