Health Policy Manag.  2018 Mar;28(1):87-90. 10.4332/KJHPA.2018.28.1.87.

Suicide Related Indicators and Trends in Korea in 2016

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Public Health, Yonsei University Graduate School, Korea.
  • 2Institute of Health Services Research, Yonsei University, Korea. JANGSI@yuhs.ac
  • 3Department of Preventive Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Abstract

Suicide has been a public health issue in many countries, and Korea has ranked highest suicide rate among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries over a decade. To address these issues, we updated the recent trends in suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among Korean adults followed by previous data observation. We used data from five sources: Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination (KNHANES, '07-12, '13, '15-16), Korean Community Health Survey (KCHS, '08-09, '13), Korean Wealth Panel Study (KOWEPS, '12-16), Korea Health Panel Survey (KHP, '10-13), and cause of death data from Statistics Korea ('07-16). We used weighted frequencies and trend tests. The rate of suicidal ideation as recent year was 5.10% (KNHANES, '15), 8.95% (KCHS, '13), 2.08% (KOWEPS, '16), and 5.39% (KHP, '13). That of suicide attempts as recent year was 0.59% (KNHANES, '16), 0.41% (KCHS, '13), and 0.08% (KOWEPS, '16). Annual percentage change of suicidal ideation was −2.80% (KNHANES, '07-12), 5.78% (KNHANES, '13-15), 0.62% (KCHS, '08-13), −8.50% (KOWEPS, '12-16), and −10.94% (KHP, '10-13). Annual percentage change of suicide attempts was −3.84% (KNHANES, '07-12), 2.26% (KNHANES, '13-16), −2.53% (KCHS, '08-13), and −20.22% (KOWEPS, '12-16). Annual percentage change of death by intentional self-harm was −0.49% (Statistics Korea, '07-16). Individuals who had lower income level were more likely to experience suicidal ideation and suicide attempts. According to these results, the rate of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts showed the decreasing tendency. However, the suicide rate of Korea has remained higher than that of OECD countries. Thus, continuous data observation and effective policies on suicide are needed.

Keyword

Suicidal ideation; Suicide attempts; Trend; Income level; Korea

MeSH Terms

Adult
Cause of Death
Health Surveys
Humans
Korea*
Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development
Public Health
Suicidal Ideation
Suicide*
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