Birthday effect

James Lovelock died on his 103rd birthday in 2022.

The birthday effect (sometimes called the birthday blues, especially when talking about suicide) is a statistical phenomenon where the chances of a person's death is higher on or close to their birthday. The birthday effect has been seen in studies in England and Wales, Switzerland, Ukraine, and the United States. It is even studied within Major League Baseball players.

Studies

Some studies find that men's and women's mortality rates are higher near their birthdays. Other studies do not find that gender affects high death rates around birthdays. However, some studies found that women were more likely to die right before a birthday, and men were more likely to die right after.

A study in England and Wales of people that died after the age of 75 found that there was a statistically significant birthday effect in women and men (never married, married, divorced and widowed) but it was not seen in the population as a whole.

Focusing on suicide deaths alone, many studies have found evidence that many suicides happen on or just after a birthday in Denmark and Hungary, but not in Bavaria or Taiwan. A 2011 study found that the risk of suicide may be greater for males on their birthday.

Reasons

Some reasons for people dying near or on their birthdays are said to be related to alcohol drinking, stress, higher suicide risk, or terminally ill patients trying to stay alive until their birthday. Another cause could be a yearly cycle (similar to the circadian rhythm) that causes the body to weaken.

Examples

Famous people to have died on their birthdays include Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr., James Lovelock, Walter B. Jones Jr., Levi P. Morton, Frances E. Allen, Julie Bishop, Peter Dickinson, Shih Ming-teh, Edward Seaga, Grachan Moncur III, Phil Batt, George Chuvalo, Kalambay Otepa, Jacques Roubaud, Edward D. DiPrete, and Borislav Paravac.

References

  1. 1 2 "James Lovelock, creator of Gaia hypothesis, dies on 103rd birthday". the Guardian. 2022-07-27. Retrieved 2022-07-27.
  2. 1 2 Anderson, M (1975). "Relationship between month of birth and month of death in the elderly". British Journal of Preventive & Social Medicine. 29 (3): 151–156. doi:10.1136/jech.29.3.151. PMC 478908. PMID 1191883.
  3. ↑ Bovet, J; Spagnoli, J; Sudan, C (1997). "[Mortality and birthdays]". Sozial- und Präventivmedizin (in French). 42 (3): 151–161. doi:10.1007/bf01300566. PMID 9334087. S2CID 45657303.
  4. ↑ Ajdacic-Gross, Vladeta; et al. (2012). "Death has a preference for birthdays—an analysis of death time series". Annals of Epidemiology. 22 (8): 603–606. doi:10.1016/j.annepidem.2012.04.016. PMID 22658822.
  5. ↑ Vaiserman, Alexander; Grigoryev, Pavel; Belaya, Irina; Voitenko, Vladimir (2003). "Variation of mortality rate during the individual annual cycle". Biogerontology. 4 (4): 221–225. doi:10.1023/A:1025168932058. PMID 14501186. S2CID 22678145.
  6. 1 2 Phillips, David; Van Voorhees, Camilla; Ruth, Todd (1992). "The Birthday: Lifeline or Deadline?". Psychosomatic Medicine. 54 (5): 532–542. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.103.5726. doi:10.1097/00006842-199209000-00001. PMID 1438656. S2CID 12190316. {{cite journal}}: Cite uses deprecated parameter |citeseerx= (help)
  7. ↑ Peña, Pablo (2015). "A not so happy day after all: Excess death rates on birthdays in the U.S". Social Science & Medicine. 126: 59–66. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.12.014. PMID 25528555.
  8. ↑ Abel, Ernest; Kruger, Michael (2009). "Mortality Salience of Birthdays on Day of Death in the Major Leagues". Death Studies. 33 (2): 175–184. doi:10.1080/07481180802138936. PMID 19143110. S2CID 8439436.
  9. ↑ Doblhammer, Gabrielle (1999). "Longevity and month of birth: Evidence from Austria and Denmark". Demographic Research. 1 (3): &#91, 22&#93, p. doi:10.4054/DemRes.1999.1.3. PMID 12178151.
  10. ↑ Medenwald, Daniel; Kuss, Oliver (2014). "Deaths and major biographical events: a study of all cancer deaths in Germany from 1995 to 2009". BMJ Open. 4 (4) e004423. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2013-004423. PMC 3987729. PMID 24694623.
  11. ↑ Zusne, Leonard (1987). "Some Factors Affecting the Birthday-Deathday Phenomenon". OMEGA: Journal of Death and Dying. 17 (1): 9–26. doi:10.2190/RR4D-4W0L-5QAK-X4YX. S2CID 144694845.
  12. ↑ Jessen, Gert; Jensen, Børge (1999). "Postponed Suicide Death? Suicides around Birthdays and Major Public Holidays". Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior. 29 (3): 272–283. doi:10.1111/j.1943-278X.1999.tb00302.x. PMID 10531639. S2CID 23575686.
  13. ↑ Zonda, Tamás; Bozsonyi, Károly; Veres, Előd; Kmetty, Zoltán (2010). "The Effect of Birthday on the Fluctuation of Suicides in Hungary (1970–2002)" (PDF). Review of Sociology. 20 (2): 96–105. PMID 20458134.
  14. 1 2 Reulbach, Udo; Biermann, Teresa; Markovic, Katrin; Kornhuber, Johannes; Bleich, Stefan (2007). "The myth of the birthday blues: a population-based study about the association between birthday and suicide". Comprehensive Psychiatry. 48 (6): 554–557. doi:10.1016/j.comppsych.2007.06.006. PMID 17954141.
  15. ↑ Williams A, While D, Windfuhr K, Bickley H, Hunt IM, Shaw J, et al. (2011). "Birthday blues: examining the association between birthday and suicide in a national sample". Crisis. 32 (3): 134–42. doi:10.1027/0227-5910/a000067. PMID 21616762.
  16. ↑ "Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr. Dies". Washington Post. August 18, 1988. Retrieved August 13, 2016.
  17. ↑ "Walter Jones, who worked to atone for his Iraq war vote, is dead at 76". News Observer. February 10, 2019.
  18. ↑ "Levi P. Morton is Dead on his 96th Birthday". The Sun and the New York Herald. New York, NY. May 17, 1920. p. 1.
  19. ↑ Frances Allen, first woman to win Turing Award for contributions to computing, dies at 88
  20. ↑ Oliver, Myrna (September 9, 2001). "Julie Bishop, 87; Actress Was in 84 Movies". LA Times. Retrieved November 23, 2014.
  21. ↑ "Carnegie winning children's author Peter Dickinson dies". BBC News. 17 December 2015.
  22. ↑ Lin, Ching-yin; Chen, Christie; Yeh, Joseph (15 January 2024). "Shih Ming-teh: A life dedicated to Taiwan's democracy". Central News Agency. Retrieved 15 January 2024. On Monday, his birthday, Shih passed away after fighting cancer for years. He was 83. Republished as: "Shih Ming-te dedicated life to democracy". Taipei Times. 16 January 2024. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  23. ↑ "Former Jamaican Prime Minister Edward Seaga dies at 89". Archived from the original on 2019-05-28. Retrieved 2019-05-28.
  24. ↑ Chinen, Nate (3 June 2022). "Grachan Moncur III, trailblazing jazz trombonist, dies at 85". NPR. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  25. ↑ "Former Idaho Gov. Phil Batt dead at 96". ktvb.com. 1927-03-04. Retrieved 2023-03-04.
  26. ↑ Smith, Joshua (September 12, 2026). "Canadian boxing legend George Chuvalo dies at 89". Toronto Star. Retrieved September 13, 2026.
  27. ↑ "Nécrologie : La Légende Mohamed Otepa Kalambay Meurt Sans Assistance !". Iris Football. 12 November 2024. Retrieved 15 November 2024.
  28. ↑ "Jacques Roubaud, poète et mathématicien des mots, est mort". Le Monde.fr (in French). 5 December 2024. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  29. ↑ Couture, Matt (9 July 2025). "Former Rhode Island Gov. Edward DiPrete dies at 91". ABC6. Archived from the original on 9 July 2025. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
  30. ↑ "Umro bivši član Predsjedništva BiH Paravac" (in Croatian). HRT. 18 February 2026. Retrieved 18 February 2026.