J Prev Med Public Health.  2015 May;48(3):142-150. 10.3961/jpmph.14.027.

Patterns of Alcohol Consumption and Suicidal Behavior: Findings From the Fourth and Fifth Korea National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (2007-2011)

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

Abstract


OBJECTIVES
The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between suicidal behavior and patterns of alcohol consumption in Korean adults.
METHODS
This study was based on data provided by the Korea National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey from 2007 to 2011. A total of 42 347 subjects were included in the study, of whom 19 292 were male and 23 055 were female. Logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the association between patterns of alcohol consumption and suicidal behavior.
RESULTS
Among the study subjects, 1426 males (11.3%) and 3599 females (21.2%) had experienced suicidal ideation, and 106 males (0.8%) and 190 females (1.1%) had attempted suicide during the previous 12 months. Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) scores were found to be associated with suicidal ideation in males and associated with both suicidal ideation and suicide attempts in females. Alcoholic blackouts were associated with suicidal ideation and suicide attempts in males, and were also associated with suicidal ideation in females.
CONCLUSIONS
In this study, we found that certain patterns of alcohol consumption were associated with suicidal behaviors. In particular, only alcoholic blackouts and categorized AUDIT scores were found to be associated with suicidal behavior in males. We therefore suggest that further research is needed to examine this relationship prospectively and in other settings.

Keyword

Alcohol consumption; Suicidal ideation; Suicide; Attempted

MeSH Terms

Adult
Aged
Alcohol Drinking/*psychology
Alcohol-Related Disorders/pathology
Asian Continental Ancestry Group
Demography
Female
Humans
Logistic Models
Male
Middle Aged
Nutrition Surveys
Republic of Korea
Sex Factors
Suicidal Ideation
Suicide, Attempted/*psychology/statistics & numerical data
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