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Abstract
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OBJECTIVES: Suicide is one of the world's most important concerns and one of the ten leading causes of death in Taiwan. This study investigated the suicide mortality rate and related factors in Taiwan through the datasets of the death registration.
METHODS: In this study, the datasets of the death registration of the Department of Health, Executive Yuan, R.O.C. (Taiwan) were utilized. First, codes E-950-E959 (death from suicide) of the International Classification of Disease, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9CM) from 1997 to 2003, identified a total of 18,130 people. Then, 72,520 people who died from other causes were randomly selected as the control group. After eliminating 311 people from the control group whose cause of death was listed as mental illnesses (290-319) but may have been suicides, the study subjects totaled 90,339.
RESULTS: With regard to the profile of suicide mortality, the suicide deaths per hundred thousand people and the suicide mortality rates showed a positive linear trend over the 30-year study period. Among the related factors, age, gender, marital status, season, holidays, region, and level of urbanization were significantly correlated with deaths by suicide.
CONCLUSIONS: In Taiwan, the suicide mortality rates have shown an upward linear trend and work in suicide prevention has become a critical need.
Language: zh |