• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.22 no.7
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• pp.318-331
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• 2022

The government has been promoting suicide prevention policies, but the elderly suicide rate has still not improved. This study focused on the role of local governments in solving suicide problems and analyzed three-year data from 2015 to 2017 at local governments level to investigate the relationship between suicide prevention policies and elderly suicide rates. Multiple regression analysis and logistic regression analysis was conducted to control social capital factors, demographic factors, and medical use factors that can affect the elderly suicide rate. As a result of the analysis, it was confirmed that suicide prevention ordinances were enacted and suicide prevention centers were established in areas with high suicide rates. In areas with high suicide rates, the suicide rate decreases if the elapsed period is long after the establishment of the center. From the perspective of suicide rates, it was analyzed that the local welfare support system was more affected. Accordingly, it was confirmed that the suicide prevention policy should be established in connection with the reinforcement of welfare policies

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.7-16
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• 2023

Objectives This study aimed to review the Korean Constitution articles 14 and 20 of the "Law on suicide prevention" and investigate public perceptions of specific improvements to suicide prevention policies using results from the Korean 2018 National Survey on Suicide. Methods The questionnaire was designed to analyzing the act restricts sharing of patient information between hospitals, making it difficult to track suicide attempts. The questionnaire was also designed to suggest further medical and normative criteria for objective judgment of continuous follow-up utilizing suicide risk evaluations and proportional principle review that consider patients' and medical staff's basic rights. Results This study identified the result of the 1500 respondents, 79.1% believed that Korea should allow suicide prevention management to be implemented without requiring individual consent to protect suicide attempters. Conclusions According the results, I propose the following criteria for policy improvement: use of anonymized information and non-profit research for technical and ethical considerations, access to medical information only for therapeutic purposes, and use of surgical severity assessment criteria appropriate for Korea.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.252-263
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• 2015

Since 2004 suicide in Korea was the number 1 cause of mortality among OECD countries, the suicides and suicide mortality rate is constantly increasing. Using AHP(Analytic Hierarchy Process), we examined the main approaches and detailed policies of suicide prevention to confirm an effective suicide policy. A workshop and survey were conducted on August 23rd and 26th, 2013, with 30 people. There were 20 academics (4 social workers, 7 mental health workers, 5 psychiatrists, 4 clinical psychologists), and 5 policymakers and 5 administrative staff. In additional 5 people from social welfare and 5 from clinical psychology fields were survey from september 9 to 12 by e-mail. The research found 4 priorities. They include, suicide attempt management, building up public infrastructure for suicide prevention, support to bereaved families, and crisis management of high risk groups in society.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.33-46
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• 2021

Using news big data analysis, this study was aimed to examine the suicide phenomena in Korean society, and to evaluate whether suicide prevention policies reflect social phenomena appropriately. For this purpose, 9,142 news titles with suicide as the keyword were collected from eight central newspapers between 2000 to 2018. Nouns were extracted, and data was refined for network analysis. The total period was divided into 4 periods based on the 1st and 2nd suicide prevention policies, and the characteristics of suicide phenomena in each period were identified through the top 50 frequent main words and the clusters. As a result, period 1 (2000~2003) with 6 clusters (military, internet environment, economic problems, pessimism, school, corruption), period 2 (2004~2008) with 8 clusters (high social class, school, economic problems, suicide attempts, family issues, social problems, military, responsibilities), period 3 (2009~2013) with 6 clusters (school, family issues, suicide attempts, occupation, military, investigation), and period 4 (2014~2018) with 8 clusters (military, suicide insurance money, family issues, suicide attempts, occupation, job stress, celebrity, corruption) were identified. Study results suggested the characteristics of suicide phenomena in our society. Further, the appropriateness of the implementation of suicide prevention policies was discussed.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.408-413
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• 2021

Recently, nurse suicide has emerged as one of the major issues. We tried to review the status of nurse suicide and its management in Korea through inspecting related web sites, news articles, and research. However, there were no sufficient reports or statistics along with the research throughout the country. Moreover, there were no organized nurse suicide management systems or programs including suicide prevention, suicide intervention, suicide postvention management. In other countries, there were various trials and successful experiences about nurse suicide programs, and those have been managed in organized and integrated ways. It gave us a lot of implications. To effectively prevent and manage the nurse suicide in Korea, nursing workforce, nursing managers, and nursing researchers should be concerned about nurse suicide. Furthermore, discussions and the research must be made actively. Based on such efforts, appropriate programs, organized manage systems, and policies must be devised at institution and national level.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2015

Suicide, the fourth leading cause of death in Korea, is a serious national problem. The Korea National Suicide Survey (KNSS) is the result of the first legislation to address this issue, "Article 11 of THE ACT FOR THE PREVENTION OF SUICIDE AND THE CREATION OF A CULTURE OF RESPECT FOR LIFE" (the "Act for the Prevention of Suicide"). To overcome the limitations of previous studies, the KNSS was designed by collaborators from a variety of fields : psychology, epidemiology, social welfare, and psychiatry. The KNSS was composed of four substudies that addressed the multifaceted process involved in suicide-related behavior over time, exploring general attitudes toward suicide and suicidal ideation, suicide planning, suicide attempts, and completed suicides. Study 1 examined the risk factors for suicide based on data regarding completed suicides ; Study 2 adopted the approach of a psychological autopsy ; Study 3 focused on suicide attempters ; and Study 4 explored attitudes toward suicide in the general population. The KNSS was designed to provide a comprehensive understanding of suicide from a longitudinal, multifaceted perspective to serve as a basis for policies aimed at suicide prevention.

• Journal of the Korean Society of School Health
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.103-111
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• 2009

Purpose: By analyzing factors related to suicide ideation of Korean middle and high school students, the purpose of this study was to multi-dimensionally understand suicide ideation of Korean middle and high school students and arrange the plans to prevent suicide. Methods: This study used and analyzed the data on ‘The 3rd (Year2007) Korea Youth Health Risk Behavior Web-based Survey (KYHRBWS)' conducted by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In this study, we analyzed 74,698 respondents in total. SPSS 12.0 Program was used to analyze the survey. Descriptive statistics, Chi-Square Test and multivariate logistic regression were also used as research methods. Results: 23.8% of the Korean middle and high school students had suicide ideation during the last one year. Girls had higher possibility of suicide ideation by 1.51 times compared to boys. Students with poor academic achievement had more suicide ideation. In terms of health characteristics, students who perceived themselves as not healthy, and students with short weekday sleeping hours, more drinking experience and more smoking experience had more suicide ideation than others. Furthermore, students who perceived themselves as overweight or obese had more suicide ideation than other students. In terms of mental characteristics, students with high level of stress, low level of happiness and depression had more suicide ideation. Conclusion: As a result of this study, we found out that the factor that had the biggest influence on suicide ideation of Korean middle and high school students was depression. Consequently, active supports and policies to decrease suicide ideation of Korean middle and high school students are necessary. Therefore, active interviews, education for suicide prevention, and periodical screening inspection should be introduced in schools.

• Journal of East-West Nursing Research
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.129-140
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• 2023

Objectives: Suicide rate in South Korea is one of the major public health concerns. This study examined the factors influencing the suicide methods of people who committed suicide in Gyeonggi-do, which accounts for one-fourth of the population of South Korea. Methods: This study analyzed the data of a total of 13,945 suicide deaths in Gyeonggi-do over a five-year period (2016-2020) provided by the Statistics Korea and the influence of social and demographic characteristics on the analyzed suicide methods. The differences in suicide methods according to the social and demographic characteristics of suicide victims were compared and analyzed through chi-squared, and items with significant differences in univariate tests were analyzed by multiple logisitic regression analysis. Results: Among suicide deaths, the most common method of suicide was hanging (52.4%). In particular, women, were employed, and stayed at home were higher risk of being hanged. The second most common method of suicide was leaping (17.7%). Women under the age of 30, those with a college degree or higher, those who were not working, time of death (6-12), and those outside the home were more likely to choose to take the leap. The third most common method of suicide was gas poisoning (15.8%). Young people under the age of 65, college graduates or higher, without a spouse, were employed, and spring season were at increased risk of choosing gas poisoning. Conclusions: The results highlight the need for policies that consider risk factors such as gender, age, education, marital status, employments status, time of suicide, and place of suicide in order to block access to suicide methods for suicide victims in Gyeonggi-do.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.232-239
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• 2021

This study aimed to update suicide-related indicators including suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, and the number of suicidal deaths. Based on up-to-date information, we observed the trends of suicide-related indicators. In this study, five data sources were used to observe the trends of suicide-related indicators: Statistics Korea (1983-2019), Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination (KNHANES, '07-13, '15-19), Korean Community Health Survey (KCHS, '08-09, '13, '17), Korean Wealth Panel Study (KOWEPS, '12-19), and Korea Health Panel Survey (KHP, '10-13, '16-17). The suicide rate, which peaked in 2011, declined until 2017 and then started to rise again from 2018, recording a suicide rate of 26.9 per 100,000 people in 2019. The rate of suicidal ideation estimated based on the recently available data was 4.62% (KNHANES, '19), 3.51% (KHP, '16), 2.87% (KHP, '17), and 1.70% (KOWEPS, '19). That of suicide attempt as recent year was 0.43% (KNHANES, '19), 0.07% (KOWEPS, '19). Annual percentage change of death by intentional self-harm was -2.11% (Statistics Korea), and that of suicidal ideation was -14.7% (KNHANES), -2.5% (KCHS), -10.6% (KOWEPS), and -11.3% (KHP). Annual percentage change of suicide attempt was -5.0% (KNHANES), -4.4% (KCHS), and -11.3% (KOWEPS). The lower the income level, the higher the probability of experiencing suicide ideation and suicide attempts. Considering the recent increase in suicide rate in contrast to the continuing decline in suicidal ideation and suicide attempts, continuous data observation and appropriate policies regarding suicide prevention are needed.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.228-236
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• 2022

The aim of this study was updating suicide-related indicators, including the number of suicidal deaths, suicide rate, and the prevalence of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts. We observed trends in suicide-related indicators based on up-to-date information. This study used five data sources to evaluate the trends of suicide-related indicators: Statistics Korea (1983-2020), Korean Wealth Panel Study (KOWEPS, 2012-2020), and Korea Health Panel Survey (KHP, 2010-2013, 2016-2018), Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination (KNHANES, 2007-2013, 2015-2020), and Korean Community Health Survey (KCHS, 2008-2009, 2013, 2017). The suicide rate per 100,000 population decrease from 26.9 in 2019 to 25.7 in 2020. Based on recently available data, the rates of suicidal ideation were 1.48% (KOWEPS, 2020), 2.61% (KHP, 2018), 4.62% (KNHANES, 2019), and 6.96% (KCHS, 2017). Those of suicide attempt as were 0.07% (KOWEPS, 2020), 0.44% (KNHANES, 2020), and 0.32% (KCHS, 2017). Annual percentage change (APC) of suicide rate was -1.87% (Statistics Korea, 2011-2020). APC of suicidal ideation was -10.7% (KOWEPS, 2012-2020), -11.5% (KHP, 2010-2013, 2016-2018), -14.7% (KNHANES, 2007-2013, 2015, 2017, 2019), and -2.5% (KCHS, 2008-2009, 2013, 2017). APC of suicide attempt was -11.3% (KOWEPS, 2012-2019), -5.2% (KNHANES, 2007-2013, 2015-2020), and -4.4% (KCHS, 2008-2009, 2013, 2017). Although the suicide rate in Korea has decreased compared to 10 years ago, it is still at a high level. Thus, continuous observation and appropriate suicide prevention policies are needed.