Department of Psychiatry, Seoul National Hospital, 398 Neungdong-ro, Gwangin-gu, Seoul, South Korea.
Department of Psychiatry, Asan Medical Center, Ulsan University College of Medicine, 388-1 Pungnap-2dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul 138-736, South Korea.
Int J Ment Health Syst. 2014 Jun 4;8:22. doi: 10.1186/1752-4458-8-22. eCollection 2014.
The lethality of the suicide method employed is a strong risk factor for the completion of suicide. We examined whether annual changes in the pattern of suicide methods is related to annual changes in suicide rates in South Korea, the United States (US), and Finland.
We analyzed annual data from 2000-2011 for South Korea and Finland, and 2000-2010 for the US in order to examine trends in the rates and methods of suicide. Data on suicide methods were obtained from the World Health Organization (WHO) mortality database.
Along with an annual rapid increase in suicide rates, the incidence of hanging increased steadily while suicide by self-poisoning steadily decreased in South Korea. In the US, along with an annual increase in suicide rates, the proportion of suicides committed by hanging increased while those committed with the use of firearms steadily decreased. In Finland, annual changes in the suicide rate and suicide method were not statistically significant during the study period.
Our present findings suggest that the increased use of specific lethal methods for suicide, namely hanging, is reflected in the increased suicide rates in the Korean and the US populations. The most effective approach for reducing overall suicide rates may be the implementation of population-based initiatives that reduce both the accessibility (e.g., access to firearms) and the social acceptability (e.g., effective and responsible regulations for reporting suicide) of lethal methods of suicide.
自杀方法的致命性是自杀完成的一个强有力的风险因素。我们研究了韩国、美国和芬兰自杀方法的模式年度变化是否与自杀率的年度变化有关。
我们分析了韩国和芬兰 2000-2011 年以及美国 2000-2010 年的年度数据，以检验自杀率和自杀方法的趋势。自杀方法的数据来自世界卫生组织（WHO）死亡率数据库。
随着自杀率的快速逐年上升，韩国上吊自杀的发生率稳步上升，而自杀性自毒的发生率稳步下降。在美国，随着自杀率的逐年上升，上吊自杀的比例增加，而使用枪支自杀的比例稳步下降。在芬兰，研究期间自杀率和自杀方法的年度变化没有统计学意义。
我们目前的研究结果表明，特定致命自杀方法的使用增加，即上吊自杀，反映在韩国和美国人口中自杀率的上升。降低总体自杀率最有效的方法可能是实施基于人口的举措，减少自杀方法的可及性（例如，获得枪支的机会）和社会可接受性（例如，报告自杀的有效和负责任的规定）。
