• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.44-51
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• 2007

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare suicide mortality by region in South Korea. Method: Suicide mortality differentials were calculated for several mortality indicators by geographical regions from raw data of the cause of death from KNSO. Results: The results are as follows; the Crude suicide death rate was 22.63 per 100,000. The highest was in Kangwon showing 37.84% whereas, Chungnam, and Jeonbuk followed after. Suicide was 4.4% of all causes of death, but Inchon and Ulsan showed a higher proportion. The male suicide death rate was 31.12 per 100,000 and females 14.09. The ratio of gender suicide mortality was 2.21, per 100,000 and was the highest in Jeju. For age-specific suicide death rates, the rate increased as age advanced, showing 2.33 per 100,000 in 0-19years, 18.68 in 20-39, 30.48 in 40-59, 63.33 in 60 years and over. In Ulsan, Kangwon, and Inchon, age-specific suicide death rates of the 60 and over age group were higher than other regions, Daegu, Busan, and Kangwon showed a higher age-specific suicide mortality of the 40-59 age group, and Kangwon, Jeonnam, and Chungnam had a higher age-specific suicide mortality of the 20-39 age group. Conclusions: Suicide mortality differed by region. These results can be used for a regional health care plan and planning for suicide prevention by regions.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.45-56
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• 2014

Objectives: This study aimed to examine how the relationship between socioeconomic factors at the macro level and suicide mortality rate of Korea was different from that of other OECD countries. Methods: We created OECD panel data of 29 OECD countries from 1985 to 2006 and analyzed the relationship between socioeconomic factors and suicide mortality rate for separate age and sex groups using a fixed-effect model. Economic factors included per capita GDP, per capita GDP growth rate, unemployment rate, and women's economic participation rate. Social factors included birth rate, alcohol consumption, and the percentage of population 65 and older. Results: Unemployment rate had a positive relationship with suicide in other countries but it had a negative relationship in some groups of Korea. Women's economic participation rate was both positively and negatively related with suicide in Korea but it did not relate to suicide in others. The negative relationship of birth rate and the positive relationship of alcohol consumption with suicide were evident in Korea, which were not found in other countries. The percentage of population 65 and older was negatively correlated in some female groups in Korea, while no significant relationship was found in other countries. Conclusions: Korea was substantially different from other OECD countries in the relationship between socioeconomic factors and suicide mortality rate.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.348-356
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• 2023

Purpose: This study aims to analyze the number of suicide deaths in women, trends in suicide mortality, characteristics of suicide by age, and outcomes of suicide means over the past decade (2011-2021) in South Korea. Methods: Using cause of death data from Statistics Korea, an in-depth analysis of Korean women's suicide trends was conducted for the period of 2011-2021. Results: In 2021, women's suicide death in Korea was 4,159, a rate of 16.2 per 100,000 population. The rate increased by 1.4% from the previous year. Since 2011, women's suicide rate has been on a steady downward trend, but since 2018, it has been on the rise again. Suicide rates among women in their 20s and 30s have increased, especially since the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, and suicide rates among women over 70 years remain high. As compared to 2011, pesticide poisoning and hanging among the means of suicide have decreased significantly, while drug and carbon monoxide continue to increase. Conclusion: Suicide rates for Korean women in their 20s and 30s have increased significantly in recent years, and those for women over 70 years remain high. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the causes and establish national policies for targeted management of these age groups, which contributes significantly to the rising suicide rate among Korean women.

• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.287-296
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• 2013

The aim of this study was to compare the regional difference of death from intentional self-harm. The analysis was based on data of intentional self-harm deaths (31,450) from the 2010-2011 vital statistics of Korea. The suicide rate (per 100,000 population) was 46.2 in male and 22.3 in female. Gender ratio (male / female) of suicide rate was 2.07, and Jeju province had the lowest gender ratio (1.82), and Chungbuk province had the highest gender ratio (2.42). In the age-gender standardized death rate (per 100,000) of self-harm by region, the highest suicide rate was observed in Gangwon province (44.8) and Chungnam province (44.3), and the lowest in Seoul metropolitan city (28.9) and Ulsan metropolitan city (29.2). There was a significant increase in the rate of suicide in city areas (odds ratio: 1.11, 95% CI: 1.08-1.13), county areas (1.62, 1.56-1.67) as compared with the rate of suicide in metropolitan areas. The commonest methods of suicide were hanging (53.7 percent), self-poisoning by pesticides (16.8 percent) and jumping from a height (14.3 percent). The methods used for suicide differed between rural (county) and urban areas (metropolitan city and city). In county areas, 43 percent of suicides used pesticides as compared to only 7-18 percent of those in urban areas. In urban areas, jumping was more common (13-17 percent vs. 6 percent). There were no difference in hanging between urban and rural areas. The odds ratio of death by pesticides was 9.86 in rural areas compared with death rate of metropolitan areas. The odds ratio of death by jumping was 0.59 in rural compared with death rate of metropolitan areas.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.143-152
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• 2014

Background: Previous studies showed that the characteristics of population and regions were related to the suicide rates. This study purposed to analyze the relationships between regional factors and suicide rates with spatial analysis model. Methods: This is a cross sectional study based on the statistics of 2011 which was extracted from the 229 City Gun Gu administrative districts in Korea. Cause of death statistics on each district was used to produce the age-, sex-adjusted mortality rates resulting from suicide. Regional characteristics were measured by the number of doctors engaged in medical institutions per 1,000 population, divorced people's rate per 1,000 population, number of marriages per 1,000 population, and percent of welfare budget in general accounting. Statistical analysis was performed by using SAS ver. 9.3 and ArcGIS ver. 10.2 was used for geographically weighted regression (GWR). Results: In ordinary least square (OLS) regression, divorced people's rate per 1,000 population had a significant positive relationship with the standardized mortality rate per 100,000 population. Marriages per 1,000 population and the proportion of welfare budget in the general accounting had significant negative relationships with the mortality rates. Meanwhile, GWR provided that the directions of variable, divorced people's rate per 1,000 population, were varied depending on regions. The adjusted $R^2$ was improved from the 0.32 in OLS to the 0.46 in GWR. Conclusion: Results of GWR showed that regional factors had different effects on the suicide rates depending on locations. It suggested that policy interventions for reducing the suicide rate should consider the regional characteristics in obtaining policy objectives.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.117-125
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• 2022

Background: External-cause mortality is an important public health issue worldwide. Considering its significance to workers' health and inequalities across industries, we aimed to describe the state of external-cause mortality and investigate its difference by industry in Republic of Korea based on data for 2018. Methods: Data obtained from the Statistics Korea and Korean Employment Information System were used. External causes of death were divided into three categories (suicide, transport accident, and others), and death occurred during employment period or within 90 days after unemployment was regarded as workers' death. We calculated age- and sex-standardized mortalities per 100,000, standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) compared to the general population and total workers, and mortality rate ratios (RRs) across industries using information and communication as a reference. Correlation analyses between income, education, and mortality were conducted. Results: Age- and sex-standardized external-cause mortality per 100,000 in all workers was 29.4 (suicide: 16.2, transport accident: 6.6, others: 6.6). Compared to the general population, all external-cause and suicide SMRs were significantly lower; however, there was no significant difference in transport accidents. When compared to total workers, wholesale, transportation, and business facilities management showed higher SMR for suicide, and agriculture, forestry, and fishing, mining and quarrying, construction, transportation and storage, and public administration and defense showed higher SMR for transport accidents. A moderate to strong negative correlation was observed between education level and mortality (both age- and sex-standardized mortality rates and SMR compared to the general population). Conclusion: Inequalities in external-cause mortalities from suicide, transport accidents, and other causes were found. For reducing the differences, improved policies are needed for industries with higher mortalities.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.41-52
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• 2013

Objectives: Rural-urban differences in suicide have been observed in many settings. However, there has been little research addressing what factors can explain these differences. The purpose of this study was to analyze which compositional factors and contextual factors in local areas might be related to local suicide. Methods: The study design was cross-sectional. The data for 251 primary local governments on their age-standardized suicide mortality and their predefined indicators of compositional factors and contextual factors were obtained from Korean Statistical Information Service as of year 2010. Bivariate analysis including one-way ANOVA and chi-square test were used to identify the differences in local features by area type. Seven poisson regression models for each of total, males, and females were used to analyze which compositional and contextual factors were related to suicide. Results: There were differences in suicide between gu and goon in total, male, and female groups. For total, compositional factors including divorce and smoking rate, and contextual factors including financial independency, water and waterwaste coverage, and number of wastewater discharge factories were found to explain the urban-rural differences. Conclusions: This study provided some evidence that contextual factors at the local level as well as compositional factors are useful for predicting local suicide mortality.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.93-101
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• 2018

Purpose: The Korean government has tried to decrease the suicide death rate over the last decade. Suicide attempts, particularly non-fatal attempts, are the most powerful known risk factor for a completed suicide. An analysis of suicide attempt methods will help establish the effective preventive action of suicide. Fit prevention according to the method of suicide attempt may decrease the incidence of suicide death. Self-poisoning is suggested as a major method of both suicide attempts and suicide death. The aim of this study was to determine if a self-poisoning patient is a suitable target for the prevention of the suicide. Methods: This was retrospective analysis of a prospective cohort, which included patients who presented to the emergency department (ED) after a self-harm or suicide attempt from Jan 2013 to Dec 2017. The proportion of methods in suicide attempts, psychological consultation, and fatality according to the suicide attempt method were analyzed. The types of poison were also analyzed. Results: Poisoning was the most common method of suicide attempts (52.1%). The rate of psychological consultations were 18.8% for all patients and 29.1% for poison patients (p<0.001). The rate of mortality in poisoning was 0.6%. Psychological consultation was performed more frequently in admission cases than discharged cases. The most common materials of poisons was psychological medicines and sedatives that had been prescribed at clinics or hospital. Conclusion: Self-poisoning is a major method of suicide attempt with a high rate of psychiatric consultation, low mortality rate, versus others methods. The prevention of suicide death for suicide attempts may focus on self-poisoning, which is the major method of suicide attempts. A suitable aftercare program for self-poisoning may be an effective method for preventing suicide if an early diagnosis and management of psychiatric disorders through psychiatric consultation can be made, and early connection to social prevention program for non-fatal patients are possible.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.264-271
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• 2023

Objectives: Hanging is a common method of attempted suicide. This study investigated the epidemiological profile of attempted and completed suicides by hanging in southern Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 1167 suicide attempts by hanging between 2011 and 2019. All data related to suicide attempts by hanging were collected from the Fars Suicide Surveillance System. The trends in suicide cases and the mean age of attempted and completed suicides were plotted. The chi-square test was used to identify suicide-related factors. Crude rates of incidence, mortality, and standardized fatality during the study period were calculated. Finally, logistic regression was used to identify the predictors of death in individuals who attempted suicide. Results: The mean age of those who attempted suicide was 33.21±16.82 years; the majority were male (80.5%). The rate of attempted and completed suicide by hanging were 3.50 and 2.79 per 100 000 people, respectively. The case-fatality rate was calculated as 79.34%. The results of our study indicated an increasing trend in suicide attempts by hanging. The likelihood of death was 2.28 times higher in individuals with a previous history of suicide attempts and 1.85 times higher in those with a psychological disorder. Conclusions: The findings of this study suggest an increasing trend in attempted and completed suicide by hanging, especially among individuals with a history of suicide attempts and psychological disorders. It is necessary to take action to reduce the rate of suicide attempts and identify the underlying causes of suicide attempts by hanging.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Emergency Medicine
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.687-698
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• 2018

Objective: This study examined the characteristics of suicidal attempters, including pre-hospital patients and those who visited the emergency department. Methods: Suicidal attempters who had been reported to the 119 call center were selected between July 2015 and June 2016. Sex, age, place, methods of suicidal attempt, season, time, and suicide success rate were reviewed in the fire center records. Results: A total 961 suicide attempters were enrolled. Among them, 53.6% were males who had an approximately 2.6 times higher mortality than that of females (9.2%). The most preferred place to commit suicide was the home in both sexes (68.0% in male, 82.8% in female) and the most preferred methods was drug intoxication, particularly pesticide. The method with the highest mortality was hanging and the lowest was self-harm. The season of the highest mortality was spring. The success of suicide and the time variation were similar. Most of the un-transferred patients also selected fatal suicide attempts compared to transfer patients. Conclusion: Unlike previous studies, this study includes information on un-transferred patients. Overall, the probability of death was highest as more than 50 years men chose hanging as a method, which had an influence on the un-transferred patients group.