Daylight saving time was not associated with a change in suicide rates in Austria, Switzerland and Sweden.

Abstract

Background: Some studies have reported an increase in suicides after the start of daylight saving time (DST), but the evidence is mixed and more research about proposed mechanisms (disrupted sleep, changing light exposure) is needed.

Methods: In our preregistered study, we analyzed change in suicide rates in the 2 weeks before/after DST, based on data between 1980 and 2022 from Austria, Switzerland and Sweden, using Poisson regression models and changepoint analyses. To explore the impact of disrupted sleep, we repeated the analysis for retired people who are likely less bound to DST, and for younger people. To explore the effect of changed daylight exposure, we repeated the analysis for northern and southern regions because twilight and daylight exposure varies by latitude.

Results: Suicide rates did not significantly increase after the start of DST (adjusted incidence rate ratio IRR = 0.98, 95% CI 0.91-1.06, P = 0.66, n = 13 362 suicides) or after DST ended (adjusted IRR = 0.99, 95% CI 0.91-1.07, P = 0.76, n = 12 319 suicides). There were no statistically significant findings among younger or older subgroups and also not in Sweden and Austria/Switzerland. No changepoints were detected.

Conclusions: There were no significant changes in suicide rates associated with DST and no clear evidence to support proposed mechanisms (light exposure, disruption of sleep). Our study is one of the largest and was adequately powered. Nonetheless, even larger studies to detect smaller effects could be important to inform the debate about harms and benefits of DST.