The assassinations of investigative journalists Daphne Caruana Galizia and Veronica Guerin and the male-to-female birth ratio

Abstract

IntroductionMale live births are marginally more common than female ones. At a population level, this ratio (M/F) temporarily reduces in the months after major traumatic events. This study looks at whether the M/F live birth ratios in Malta and Ireland were affected by the assassinations of local investigative journalists Daphne Caruana Galizia (DCG) and Veronica Guerin (VG) respectively. MethodsData on monthly live births by gender in Malta and Ireland were gathered from the Maltese Public Health Directorate for Health Information and Research and the Irish Central Statistics Office online database respectively. M/F ratios at 3 to 5 months after the assassinations were compared to the monthly M/F ratio in the months preceding and following the events. In the case of DCG, the study period was from January 2017 to December 2018, while in the case of VG, it was taken to be from November 1995 to October 1997. ResultsIn Malta, during the study period, there were 8914 live births (M/F 0.5139; 95% CI 0.514–0.524). There was a significant dip (χ2 = 5.1, p = 0.02) of the M/F ratio 4 months after DCG's assassination to 0.4529. This translates to an estimated loss of 21 male live births.In Ireland, during the study period, there were 102,368 live births (M/F = 0.5162; 95% CI 0.513–0.519). There was a significant dip (χ2 = 4.5, p = 0.03) of the M/F ratio 4 months after VG's assassination to 0.5. This translates to an estimated loss of 72 male live births. DiscussionThese findings add weight to the argument that national stressful events may be related to dips in the M/F ratio. Assassinations of journalists may have important population mental health implications.