TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2016//
TI  - Usual alcohol consumption and suicide mortality among the Korean elderly in rural communities: Kangwha Cohort Study
JO  - Journal of epidemiology and community health
A1  - Yi, Sang-Wook
A1  - Jung, Myoungjee
A1  - Kimm, Heejin
A1  - Sull, Jae-Woong
A1  - Lee, Eunsook
A1  - Lee, Kwang Ok
A1  - Ohrr, Heechoul
SP  - 778
EP  - 783
VL  - 70
IS  - 8
N2  - BACKGROUND: The evidence from prospective studies on whether greater usual alcohol consumption is associated with a higher risk of death by suicide in the general population is inconclusive. <br><br>METHODS: 6163 participants (2635 men; 3528 women) in a 1985 survey among rural residents in Korea aged 55 years and above were followed until 2008. A Cox model was used to calculate HRs of suicide death after adjustment for demographic, socioeconomic and health-related confounders. <br><br>RESULTS: 37 men and 24 women died by suicide. Elderly persons who consumed alcohol daily, 70 g alcohol (5 drinks) or more per drinking day, or 210 g alcohol (15 drinks) or more per week had higher suicide mortality (p<0.05), compared with non-drinkers. An increase of one drinking day per week (HR=1.17, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.31), 70 g (5 drinks) additional alcohol intake per drinking day (HR=1.38, 95% CI 1.13 to 1.70), and 140 g (10 drinks) additional alcohol intake per week was associated with a 17%, 38% and 12% higher risk of suicide death, respectively. Women had a higher relative risk of suicide death associated with alcohol consumption, compared with men. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: A greater frequency and amount of usual alcohol consumption was linearly associated with higher suicide death. Given the same amount of alcohol consumption, women might have a higher relative risk of suicide than men. Our findings support 'the lower the better' for alcohol intake, no protective effect of moderate alcohol consumption, and a sex-specific guideline (lower alcohol threshold for women) as actions to prevent suicide death.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0143-005X
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jech-2015-206849
ID  - ref1
ER  -