Micro-regions with a higher percentage of Catholics had higher
suicide rates in all of the analyses. In the bivariate analysis other
religions also had significant correlations with increased suicide
rates, such as evangelical religions, especially the Lutheran church.
However, considering the important presence of the Catholic
religion in all of the country’s regions, this religion indicator was
selected for the multivariate analysis. The impact of religion on
suicide rates was first examined in an ecological analysis by
Durkheim, which found increased suicide rates in Protestant regions
(Durkheim, 2003). A longitudinal study suggested that religion could
present a protective effect among young people, but that this effect
declined during adulthood (Nkansah-Amankra et al., 2012).