Osaka University, Osaka School of International Public Policy, 1-31 Machikaneyama, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-0043, Japan.
J Affect Disord. 2014 Jan;152-154:526-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2013.09.007. Epub 2013 Sep 17.
Public awareness campaigns about depression and suicide have been viewed as highly effective strategies in preventing suicide, yet their effectiveness has not been established in previous studies. This study evaluates the effectiveness of a public-awareness campaign by comparing suicide counts before and after a city-wide campaign in Nagoya, Japan, where the city government distributed promotional materials that were aimed to stimulate public awareness of depression and promote care-seeking behavior during the period of 2010-2012.
In each of the sixteen wards of the city of Nagoya, we count the number of times that the promotional materials were distributed per month and then examine the association between the suicide counts and the frequency of distributions in the months following such distributions. We run a Poisson regression model that controls for the effects of ward-specific observed and unobserved heterogeneities and temporal shocks.
Our analysis indicates that more frequent distribution of the campaign material is associated with a decrease in the number of suicides in the subsequent months. The campaign was estimated to have been especially effective for the male residents of the city.
The underlying mechanism of how the campaign reduced suicides remains to be unclear.
Public awareness campaigns can be an effective strategy in preventing suicide.
公众对抑郁和自杀的认识运动被视为预防自杀的高度有效策略，但以前的研究并未证实其有效性。本研究通过比较日本名古屋市全市范围内的一项宣传活动前后的自杀人数，评估了一次公众意识运动的效果，在该活动期间，市政府分发了旨在提高公众对抑郁的认识和促进寻求护理行为的宣传材料。
在名古屋市的 16 个区中，我们逐月统计宣传材料的分发次数，然后检验自杀人数与分发后几个月的分发频率之间的关联。我们运行了一个泊松回归模型，控制了特定区的观察到的和未观察到的异质性以及时间冲击的影响。
我们的分析表明，更频繁地分发宣传材料与随后几个月自杀人数的减少有关。该运动被估计对该市的男性居民特别有效。
宣传活动如何减少自杀的潜在机制仍不清楚。
公众意识运动是预防自杀的有效策略。
