Johns Hopkins University-Nanjing University Center for Chinese and American Studies, Gulou District, Nanjing, 210093, China.
School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Nanjing University, 163 Xianlin Road, Qixia District, Nanjing, 210023, China.
BMC Public Health. 2020 Mar 6;20(1):293. doi: 10.1186/s12889-020-8409-2.
Suicidal ideation is subject to serious underestimation among existing public health studies. While numerous factors have been recognized in affecting suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB), the associated environmental risks have been poorly understood. Foremost among the various environment risks were air pollution, in particular, the PM2.5. The present study attempted to examine the relationship between PM level and local weekly index of suicidal ideation (ISI).
Using Internet search query volumes in Baidu (2017), the largest internet search engine in China, we constructed a prefectural panel data (278 prefectures, 52 weeks) and employed dynamic panel GMM system estimation to analyze the relationship between weekly concentration of PM2.5 (Mean = 87 μg·m) and the index of suicidal ideation (Mean = 49.9).
The results indicate that in the spring and winter, a 10 μg·m increase in the prior week's PM in a Chinese city is significantly associated with 0.020 increase in ISI in spring and a 0.007 increase in ISI in winter, after taking account other co-pollutants and meteorological conditions.
We innovatively proposed the measure of suicidal ideation and provided suggestive evidence of a positive association between suicidal ideation and PM level.
现有的公共卫生研究中，自杀意念存在严重低估的情况。虽然已经认识到许多因素会影响自杀想法和行为（STB），但与之相关的环境风险却知之甚少。各种环境风险中，首要的是空气污染，尤其是 PM2.5。本研究试图检验 PM 水平与当地每周自杀意念指数（ISI）之间的关系。
利用中国最大的互联网搜索引擎百度（2017 年）的互联网搜索查询量，构建了一个县级面板数据（278 个县，52 周），并采用动态面板 GMM 系统估计来分析每周 PM2.5 浓度（均值=87μg·m）与自杀意念指数（均值=49.9）之间的关系。
结果表明，在中国城市，前一周 PM10 增加 10μg·m，与春季 ISI 增加 0.020 和冬季 ISI 增加 0.007 显著相关，同时考虑了其他污染物和气象条件。
我们创新性地提出了自杀意念的衡量标准，并提供了提示性证据，表明自杀意念与 PM 水平之间存在正相关关系。
