Chen Ying-Yeh, Yip Paul Sf, Lee Carmen Km, Gunnell David, Wu Kevin Chien-Chang
Taipei City Psychiatric Center, Taipei City Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2015 Feb;50(2):227-36. doi: 10.1007/s00127-014-0910-4. Epub 2014 Jun 10.
In the late 1990s, an epidemic rise in suicides by carbon monoxide poisoning from burning barbecue charcoal began in Hong Kong and Taiwan. This study investigates the diffusion of this new method of suicide.
Official mortality data for 1998-2010 in Taiwan and 1998-2009 in Hong Kong were collected; overall and method-specific suicide rates in different socio-demographic subgroups over the study period were compared. Multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess the socio-demographic risk factors for charcoal-burning vs. non-charcoal-burning suicide.
In Hong Kong, the incidence of charcoal-burning suicide increased steeply within 1 year of the first reported cases, but its use has declined from 24.2% of all suicides during the peak period (2002-2004) to 17.1% (2007-2009); in Taiwan, the pace of diffusion was slower in onset, but it remains a popular method accounting for 31.0% of all suicides in 2008-2010. The early adopters in both places tended to be young- and middle-aged men. As the epidemic progressed, the method has also been gradually adopted by older age groups and women, particularly in Taiwan, but in 2009/10, the method still accounted for <8% of suicides in those aged >60 years in both areas.
Common features of the epidemic in both places were the greater levels of early uptake by the young- and middle-aged males. The different course of the charcoal-burning suicide epidemic may reflect social, geographic and media reporting differences. Surveillance to identify the emergence of new suicide methods is crucial in suicide prevention.
20世纪90年代末，香港和台湾地区因燃烧烧烤木炭导致一氧化碳中毒自杀事件呈流行趋势上升。本研究调查了这种新自杀方式的传播情况。
收集台湾地区1998 - 2010年以及香港地区1998 - 2009年的官方死亡率数据；比较研究期间不同社会人口学亚组的总体自杀率和特定方法自杀率。进行多因素逻辑回归分析，以评估烧炭自杀与非烧炭自杀的社会人口学危险因素。
在香港，烧炭自杀的发生率在首例报告病例后的1年内急剧上升，但其使用比例已从高峰期（2002 - 2004年）占所有自杀事件的24.2%降至2007 - 2009年的17.1%；在台湾，传播速度开始较慢，但仍是一种流行的自杀方式，在2008 - 2010年占所有自杀事件的31.0%。两地早期采用者多为中青年男性。随着流行趋势的发展，该方法也逐渐被老年群体和女性采用，特别是在台湾，但在2009/10年，该方法在两地60岁以上人群的自杀事件中仍占不到8%。
两地流行的共同特征是中青年男性早期采用率较高。烧炭自杀流行趋势的不同过程可能反映了社会、地理和媒体报道的差异。识别新自杀方式出现的监测对于预防自杀至关重要。
