• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.14 no.7
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• pp.253-270
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• 2014

Public awareness campaign is the core factor of the national suicide prevention strategies. Korea's current campaign needs to be more systematically developed. This study analyzed the national-level campaigns for suicide prevention of New Zealand, USA, Ireland, Scotland, and Australia whose campaigns were known to be successful, and compared them with those of Korea. With the analysis framework based on the 'Guideline for Effective Health Communication Campaigns' by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, we examined the campaigns from the dimensions of (1) clarity of goals, (2) appropriacy of targeting strategies, (3) suitability of messaging strategies, and (4) efficiency of performance. The results show that effective campaigns for suicide prevention have the following common factors: (1) campaign appellations which include clear goals, (2) targeting at risk groups considering social contexts, (3) slogans which contains specific action guidelines, and (4) close relationships between public and private sectors. On this basis, future directions for more effective suicide prevention media campaigns in Korea are discussed.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.781-784
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• 2012

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the adenovirus-mediated double suicide gene (CD/TK) for selective killing of gastric cancer cells. Gastric cancer cells SCG7901 and normal gastric epithelial cell lines were infected by adenoviruses Ad-survivin/GFP and Ad-survivin/CD/TK. GFP expression and CD-TK were detected by fluorescence microscopy and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), respectively. After treatment of the infected cells with the pro-drugs ganciclovir (GCV) and/or 5-FC, the cell growth status was evaluated by methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium assay. Cell cycle changes were detected using flow cytometry. In nude mice bearing human gastric cancer, the recombinant adenovirus vector was injected directly into the tumor followed by an intraperitoneal injection of GCV and/or 5-FC. The subsequent tumor growth was then observed. The GFP gene driven by survivin could be expressed within the gastric cancer line SCG7901, but not in normal gastric epithelial cells. RT-PCR demonstrated the presence of the CD/TK gene product in the infected SCG7901 cells, but not in the infected normal gastric epithelial cells. The infected gastric cancer SCG7901, but not the gastric cells, was highly sensitive to the pro-drugs. The CD/TK fusion gene system showed significantly greater efficiency than either of the single suicide genes in killing the target cells (P<0.01). Treatment of the infected cells with the pro-drugs resulted in increased cell percentage in G0-Gl phase and decreased percentage in S phase. In nude mice bearing SCG7901 cells, treatment with the double suicide gene system significantly inhibited tumor growth, showing much stronger effects than either of the single suicide genes (P<0.01). The adenovirus-mediated CD/TK double suicide gene driven by survivin promoter combined with GCV an 5-FC treatment could be an effective therapy against experimental gastric cancer with much greater efficacy than the single suicide gene CD/TK combined with GCV or 5-FC.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.427-435
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• 2016

Any comparative study has not been done between Korea and a certain country about the social economic factors of elderly suicide rates, even though there has been comparative studies among several nations. Therefore, this study is going to reveal how the macro-social economic factors are related to elderly suicide rates based on Korea and the United States, which show great gap of elderly suicide rate and have completely different aspect of increasing and decreasing rate of elderly suicide, as members of OECD. For this, trend analysis has been done between elderly suicide rates of both Korea and the United States for the past twenty years(1990-2009) and social economic factors, and correlation analysis also has been done at the same time. After all, this study is going to suggest policy implications for the prevention of elderly suicide in our society based on the results of the analysis.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.801-806
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• 2014

The purpose of this research is to analyze related with suicide impulse according to family intimacy of the aged people in a metropolis and a fishing village. Subject of the research were 100 aged people residing at N Goo, Seoul from March 10 to July 29 in 2013 and 100 aged people residing at S-myon, Wando-gun, JeollaNam-do from May 17 to September 20 in 2013 respectively through questionnaire survey. Analysis on data was executed for t-test, correlation analysis, multiple regression method, etc. using SPSS/WIN 18.0 program. Empirical analysis was verified at 5% of significance level. From the result of the analysis, firstly, suicide impulse of aged people in a metropolis was high when family adaptation capability of them was low. Secondly, suicide impulse of aged people in a metropolis showed significant correlation with family adaption capability. Thirdly, suicide impulse of aged people in a metropolis was higher than that of aged people in a fishing village. It is thought that this thesis can suggest a good reference document in establishing a suicide prevention policy for enhancing intimacy of family function.

• 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.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 2016

Background: Several studies have investigated the relationship between specific occupations and suicide mortality, as suicide rates differ by profession. The aim of this study was to investigate suicide mortality ratios across broad occupational groups in Greece for both sexes in the period 2000-2009. Methods: Data of suicide deaths were retrieved from the Hellenic Statistical Authority and comparative mortality ratios were calculated. Occupational classification was based on the International Classification of Occupations (ISCO-88) and the coding for Intentional self-harm (X60-X84) was based on the international classification of diseases (ICD-10). Results: Male dominant occupations, mainly armed forces, skilled farmers and elementary workers, and female high-skilled occupations were seen as high risk groups for suicide in a period of 10 years. The age-productive group of 30-39 years in Greek male elementary workers and the 50-59 age-productive group of Greek professional women proved to have the most elevated number of suicide deaths. Conclusion: Further research is needed into the work-related stressors of occupations with high suicide mortality risk and focused suicide prevention strategies should be applied within vulnerable working age populations.

• 한국노년학
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.1427-1444
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• 2009

The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of the suicide ideation, plan and attempt and to examine factors affecting the suicide attempt of the elderly. For these purposes, 1,110 elderly in Chonbuk province were interviewed using structured questionaire. Logistic regression analyses were used to test the association among factors. Major finding of this study are as follow : First, the prevalence of the suicide ideation, plan and attempt was 20.2%, 5.7%, 3.6%. Second, factors for suicide attempt were male sex, the living alone aged, loss of role as a worker, emotional abuse and neglect from family. On the basis of these results, implications for policy and practice are suggested for prevention the suicide of the elderly.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.552-566
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• 2015

This paper deals with suicide that has become a serious problem in our society as well as in the world today from a Christian perspective. Historical position regarding suicide is divided into two; some see it as a brave and honorable act and give approval to it, the others view it as act of giving up the life that is given by God and are opposed to it. Though suicides in the Bible are mostly committed to maintain honor, because of Augustin's position it became negative in Christianity, leading to a thought that one who committed suicide goes to hell. Why then people commit suicide? The views of scholars on the cause of suicide are divided into three; biological, psychological, sociological. My position is that though each or all of them contribute to suicide, yet the decisive factor is on how a person reacts to them. Major factor of suicide is how humans as interpretive beings accept the present despair. On the basis of this understanding of suicide and humans, I conclude this paper with three new recognitions as an essential answer to suicide. First, humans are made in God's image and belong to Him, thus their life is precious. Second, Christianity views humans as ones look for the hope in the future as the eternal life. Third, suicide is a violation of the commandment 'do not kill' yet it is not an act of sin but a disease that needs to be cured. To achieve this Christianity must not only spread the idea of respect for life and also run suicide prevention center every city.

• 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.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.69-78
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• 2016

Objectives: The suicide rate in Korea is increasing every year, and is the highest among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries. Psychiatric patients in particular have a higher risk of suicide than other patients. This study was performed to evaluate determinants of mental health care utilization among individuals at high risk for suicide. Methods: Korea Health Panel data from 2009 to 2011 were used. Subjects were individuals at high risk of suicide who had suicidal ideation, a past history of psychiatric illness, or had utilized outpatient services for a psychiatric disorder associated with suicidal ideation within the past year. The chi-square test and hierarchical logistic regression were used to identify significant determinants of mental health care utilization. Results: The total number of subjects with complete data on the variables in our model was 989. Individuals suffering from three or more chronic diseases used mental health care more frequently. Mental health care utilization was higher in subjects who had middle or high levels of educational attainment, were receiving Medical Aid, or had a large family size. Conclusions: It is important to control risk factors in high-risk groups as part of suicide prevention strategies. The clinical approach, which includes community-based intervention, entails the management of reduction of suicidal risk. Our study identified demographic characteristics that have a significant impact on mental health care utilization and should be considered in the development of suicide prevention strategies. Further studies should examine the effect of mental health care utilization on reducing suicidal ideation.