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Article: Was the economic crisis 1997-1998 responsible for rising suicide rates in East/Southeast Asia? A time-trend analysis for Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Thailand

TitleWas the economic crisis 1997-1998 responsible for rising suicide rates in East/Southeast Asia? A time-trend analysis for Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Thailand
Authors
KeywordsEast/Southeast Asia
Economic crisis
Socioeconomic factors
Suicide
Time series
Issue Date2009
PublisherPergamon. The Journal's web site is located at http://www.elsevier.com/locate/socscimed
Citation
Social Science And Medicine, 2009, v. 68 n. 7, p. 1322-1331 How to Cite?
AbstractIn 1997-1998 a widespread economic crisis hit the economies of many East/Southeast Asian countries; its impact on suicide rates across the region has not been systematically documented. We investigated the impact of the Asian economic crisis (1997-1998) on suicide in Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Thailand. Suicide and population data for the period 1985-2006 were extracted from the World Health Organisation's mortality database and Taiwanese mortality statistics. Sex-specific age-standardised suicide rates for people aged 15 years or above were analysed using joinpoint regression. Trends in divorce, marriage, unemployment, gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and alcohol consumption were compared with trends in suicide rates graphically and using time-series analysis. Suicide mortality decreased in the late 1980s and early 1990s but subsequently increased markedly in all countries except Singapore, which had steadily declining suicide rates throughout the study period. Compared to 1997, male rates in 1998 rose by 39% in Japan, 44% in Hong Kong and 45% in Korea; rises in female rates were less marked. Male rates also rose in Thailand, but accurate data were incomplete. The economic crisis was associated with 10,400 more suicides in 1998 compared to 1997 in Japan, Hong Kong and Korea. Similar increases in suicide rates were not seen in Taiwan and Singapore, the two countries where the economic crisis had a smaller impact on GDP and unemployment. Time-series analyses indicated that some of the crisis's impact on male suicides was attributable to increases in unemployment. These findings suggest an association of the Asian economic crisis with a sharp increase in suicide mortality in some, but not all, East/Southeast Asian countries, and that these increases were most closely associated with rises in unemployment. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Persistent Identifierhttp://hdl.handle.net/10722/145495
ISSN
2023 Impact Factor: 4.9
2023 SCImago Journal Rankings: 1.954
ISI Accession Number ID
References

 

DC FieldValueLanguage
dc.contributor.authorChang, SSen_HK
dc.contributor.authorGunnell, Den_HK
dc.contributor.authorSterne, JACen_HK
dc.contributor.authorLu, THen_HK
dc.contributor.authorCheng, ATAen_HK
dc.date.accessioned2012-02-23T12:11:46Z-
dc.date.available2012-02-23T12:11:46Z-
dc.date.issued2009en_HK
dc.identifier.citationSocial Science And Medicine, 2009, v. 68 n. 7, p. 1322-1331en_HK
dc.identifier.issn0277-9536en_HK
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10722/145495-
dc.description.abstractIn 1997-1998 a widespread economic crisis hit the economies of many East/Southeast Asian countries; its impact on suicide rates across the region has not been systematically documented. We investigated the impact of the Asian economic crisis (1997-1998) on suicide in Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Thailand. Suicide and population data for the period 1985-2006 were extracted from the World Health Organisation's mortality database and Taiwanese mortality statistics. Sex-specific age-standardised suicide rates for people aged 15 years or above were analysed using joinpoint regression. Trends in divorce, marriage, unemployment, gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and alcohol consumption were compared with trends in suicide rates graphically and using time-series analysis. Suicide mortality decreased in the late 1980s and early 1990s but subsequently increased markedly in all countries except Singapore, which had steadily declining suicide rates throughout the study period. Compared to 1997, male rates in 1998 rose by 39% in Japan, 44% in Hong Kong and 45% in Korea; rises in female rates were less marked. Male rates also rose in Thailand, but accurate data were incomplete. The economic crisis was associated with 10,400 more suicides in 1998 compared to 1997 in Japan, Hong Kong and Korea. Similar increases in suicide rates were not seen in Taiwan and Singapore, the two countries where the economic crisis had a smaller impact on GDP and unemployment. Time-series analyses indicated that some of the crisis's impact on male suicides was attributable to increases in unemployment. These findings suggest an association of the Asian economic crisis with a sharp increase in suicide mortality in some, but not all, East/Southeast Asian countries, and that these increases were most closely associated with rises in unemployment. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.en_HK
dc.languageengen_US
dc.publisherPergamon. The Journal's web site is located at http://www.elsevier.com/locate/socscimeden_HK
dc.relation.ispartofSocial Science and Medicineen_HK
dc.subjectEast/Southeast Asiaen_HK
dc.subjectEconomic crisisen_HK
dc.subjectSocioeconomic factorsen_HK
dc.subjectSuicideen_HK
dc.subjectTime seriesen_HK
dc.titleWas the economic crisis 1997-1998 responsible for rising suicide rates in East/Southeast Asia? A time-trend analysis for Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Thailanden_HK
dc.typeArticleen_HK
dc.identifier.emailChang, SS: sschang@hku.hken_HK
dc.identifier.authorityChang, SS=rp01582en_HK
dc.description.naturelink_to_subscribed_fulltexten_US
dc.identifier.doi10.1016/j.socscimed.2009.01.010en_HK
dc.identifier.pmid19200631-
dc.identifier.scopuseid_2-s2.0-62249134363en_HK
dc.relation.referenceshttp://www.scopus.com/mlt/select.url?eid=2-s2.0-62249134363&selection=ref&src=s&origin=recordpageen_HK
dc.identifier.volume68en_HK
dc.identifier.issue7en_HK
dc.identifier.spage1322en_HK
dc.identifier.epage1331en_HK
dc.identifier.isiWOS:000265326600017-
dc.publisher.placeUnited Kingdomen_HK
dc.identifier.scopusauthoridChang, SS=35232386600en_HK
dc.identifier.scopusauthoridGunnell, D=7006194937en_HK
dc.identifier.scopusauthoridSterne, JAC=7006014653en_HK
dc.identifier.scopusauthoridLu, TH=7402684310en_HK
dc.identifier.scopusauthoridCheng, ATA=13807227900en_HK
dc.identifier.issnl0277-9536-

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