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Quantifying the contributions of age, sex, methods, and urbanicity to the changing suicide rate trends in South Korea, 2001–2016

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Abstract

Purpose

Suicide rates in South Korea have been one of the highest in the world. The aim of this study is to quantify the contributions of age, sex, method, and place of residence to the trends of the suicide rates between 2001 and 2016 in South Korea.

Methods

Using the suicide data obtained from the South Korean National Death Registration data set for the years 2001–2016, a Joinpoint regression analysis was conducted to determine if there was a significant change in the trend of suicide rates. Next, a decomposition analysis method was used to quantify the contributions of age, sex, method, and places of residence to the changes in the suicide rates.

Results

Suicide rates increased between 2001 and 2010, and decreased between 2010 and 2016. Among all the age groups, the 65–79 age group contributed most to the rise (18% in men and 7% in women) and fall (− 15% in men and − 14% in women) of suicide rates. Men contributed much more than women to the increasing trend of suicide rate (63.0% vs. 37.0%). Hanging was the key method of suicide, dominating the ups and downs of the suicide rates. The rates of suicide by pesticide poisoning have been decreasing since 2005 and suicide by charcoal burning continued to increase against a decreasing trend of suicide rate during the period of 2010–2016. The gap of the metropolitan–city–rural suicide rates was narrowing during the period under study, although the rural areas remained to have the highest suicide rates.

Conclusion

The ups and downs of suicide rates in South Korea were not uniform across different sociodemographic groups. Age, sex, method, and place of residence contributed differently to the changes in suicide rates. Suicide prevention measures can be more focused on certain age–sex–method–region subgroups.

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Acknowledgements

YYC was supported by Grants from the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST 108-2314-B-532-007-MY2), the National Health Research Institutes (NHRI-EX108-10818PI), and the Department of Health Taipei City Government (10801-62-019), and PSFY was supported by the General Research Grant (no: 17117816). The authors are grateful for the useful comments of the reviewers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Taipei City Psychiatric Center, Taipei City Hospital, Taipei City, Taiwan

    Ying-Yeh Chen

  2. Institute of Public Health, School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei City, Taiwan

    Ying-Yeh Chen

  3. Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong

    Chi-Ting Yang

  4. Department of Preventive Medicine, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea

    Eun-Shil Cha

  5. The Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong

    Feng Sha

  6. Department of Social Work and Social Administration, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong

    Paul Siu Fai Yip

  7. The Hong Kong Jockey Club Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, The University of Hong Kong, 2/F, The Hong Kong Jockey Club Building for Interdisciplinary Research, 5 Sassoon Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong

    Paul Siu Fai Yip

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  1. Ying-Yeh Chen
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Correspondence to Paul Siu Fai Yip.

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Chen, YY., Yang, CT., Cha, ES. et al. Quantifying the contributions of age, sex, methods, and urbanicity to the changing suicide rate trends in South Korea, 2001–2016. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 55, 1121–1132 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-020-01855-3

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