Gender Ratio of Intentional Self-harm Death in Korea

Abstract

Objectives To compare the gender ratio (male/female death rate) of intentional self-harm (suicide) by age and suicide methods. Methods The intentional self-harm (KCD-6: X60-X84) death data (71,739 deaths: aged 10 years and older) of Korea Statistics from 2011 to 2015 were used for this analysis. Gender ratio of suicide and 95 percent confidence interval were calculated by the age specific suicide rate and suicide methods. Results The suicide rate of males (43.5 per population of 100,000) were higher than those of females (19.1). The gender ratio of suicide was 2.28 (95% intervals: 2.24-2.32). Age specific suicide rate increased with advanced age in both gender. The gender ratio of suicide was highest in aged 60-69 years (3.38), and lowest in aged 10-19 years (1.31). The common methods of suicide was hanging, accounting for 51.3 percent of all suicide deaths. The next most common methods for suicide was jumping from a height (15.1 percent), self-poisoning by gas (12.0 percent) and pesticides (11.4 percent), and drowning (3.5 percent). The gender ratio by suicide methods was considerably high in self-poisoning by gas (4.65), 2.49 for hanging, 2.22 for drowning, 1.49 for self-poisoning by pesticides, and 1.25 for jumping from a height. The suicide rates of male were higher than those of female in most of suicide methods and all age groups (10-29 years, 30-59 years and ≥60 years), with the exception for self-poisoning by pesticide in age group 10-29 years (gender ratio: 0.81). The gender ratio of self-poisoning by gas and pesticide, hanging, and drowning increased with advanced age, while gender ratio of jumping from a height decreased with advanced age. Conclusions The gender ratio of suicide increased with advanced age in the majority of suicide methods, with the exception for jumping from a height. There is need to understanding the variations of gender ratio in suicide methods and age group. Key words: Gender ratio, Suicide rate, Intentional self-harm