J Korean Soc Emerg Med.  2024 Oct;35(5):364-371.

Assessment of geriatric suicidal attempts in Korea during the COVID-19 pandemic: comparison with previous years

• Lee JH
• Seo YW
• Ko SH

Abstract

Objective
This study examined the characteristics of elderly suicide attempts visiting emergency medical centers (EMC) from 2016 to 2020 in Korea and compared before and after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on elderly suicide.
Methods
This is a retrospective study based on the National Emergency Department Information System data for patients aged 60 years or older who attempted suicide and attended regional and local EMCs from 2016 to 2020.
Results
Among 27,057 suicide attempts, patients in their 60s were the most common. The difference in suicide attempts by season was statistically significant from 2016 to 2020. The length of stay (LOS) in the emergency room (ER) was the longest in 2020, at 4 hours and 9 minutes. The number of suicide attempts and suicide patients after the COVID-19 pandemic was highest in July, with 546 and 89 cases, respectively. A comparison of suicide patients before and after the pandemic showed that the proportion of males decreased from 73.9% before to 66.4% after the pandemic. Seasonal differences were observed in the following order: fall (33.1%), summer (31.4%), spring (26.6%), and winter (8.9%) after the pandemic. Asphyxia/hanging (42.4%) comprised the highest proportion of the mechanisms followed by ingestion (42.3%) without statistical significance. The LOS in the ER increased from 71 minutes before to 91 minutes after the pandemic.
Conclusion
Compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic, the proportion of female suicide patients increased and there was a seasonal difference after the pandemic. The LOS in the ER increased after the pandemic, but no other notable differences were observed.

Keyword

Suicide; Geriatrics; COVID-19