Suicide Overall and Suicide by Pesticide Rates among South Korean Workers: A 15-Year Population-Based Study

Suicide is a major public health concern in South Korea, and self-poisoning by pesticides is one of the common methods of suicide. Pesticide ban policies have been successful for suicide prevention; however, no studies have shown their effect according to occupational groups. The present study analy...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of environmental research and public health 2019-12, Vol.16 (23), p.4866
Main Authors: Kim, Yangwoo, Min, Jeehee, Lee, Soo-Jin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Age
Agriculture
Agrochemicals
Consumer Price Index
Economic conditions
Economic indicators
Female
Fisheries
Fishery industry
Forestry
GDP
Gross Domestic Product
Humans
Indicators
Male
Middle Aged
Mortality
Occupations - statistics & numerical data
Older people
Pesticides
Pesticides - poisoning
Population
Population studies
Population-based studies
Prevention
Regression analysis
Republic of Korea
Risk assessment
Sociodemographics
Statistical analysis
Suicide
Suicide - statistics & numerical data
Suicides & suicide attempts
Trends
Unemployment
Unemployment - psychology
Unemployment - statistics & numerical data
Workers
Young Adult
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Summary:Suicide is a major public health concern in South Korea, and self-poisoning by pesticides is one of the common methods of suicide. Pesticide ban policies have been successful for suicide prevention; however, no studies have shown their effect according to occupational groups. The present study analyzed suicide and suicide by pesticide rates among South Korean workers aged 15-64 in 2003-2017, their associations with occupational groups, and the impact of three major economic indices on these factors. Workers in the agriculture, forestry, and fishery industries had relative risks of 5.62 (95% CI: 5.54-5.69) for suicide overall and 25.49 (95% CI: 24.46-26.57) for suicide by pesticide. The real gross domestic product had a positive association with suicide overall only in the last five-year period investigated in this study, and the unemployment rate consistently had a positive association. The economic status and policy for suicide prevention affected suicide and suicide by pesticide rates differently among occupational groups and different time periods. Policy addressing suicidal risk for different occupational groups should be of concern in South Korea.
ISSN:1660-4601
1661-7827
1660-4601
DOI:10.3390/ijerph16234866