OBJECTIVE: Throughout the past several years, there have been a number of entertainment celebrity suicides in South Korea. The aim of this study was to investigate the clustering of suicides following celebrities' suicides in South Korea from 2005 to 2008, particularly according to certain characteristics. METHODS: Seven celebrity suicides were examined and defined using the Korean Integrated Newspaper Database System (KINDS) and from these, we considered four affected periods occurring 28 days after each celebrity's suicide. A Poisson time-series autoregression model was used to estimate the relative risk of the total suicide number for each affected period from 2005 to 2008. Logistic regression analysis was performed to investigate whether there were specific increases in the numbers of suicides in subgroups matching each celebrity. RESULTS: There were significant increases in the risk of suicide during the affected periods. Remarkable increases were found in the subgroups matching each celebrity, especially in the group in which all factors (sex, age, and method) were similar. CONCLUSION: This study provides confirmation that a significant copycat effect was induced by these celebrities' suicides, especially among people who identified more with the celebrities. This implies that countermeasures for upright media coverage of celebrity suicides should be discussed and practiced properly in South Korea.
Imitative Behavior ; Korea* ; Logistic Models ; Mass Media ; Periodicals ; Republic of Korea ; Risk Factors ; Suicide*

Suicide is a common and preventable event that is often reported by the media when there are sensationalistic elements or if the suicide involves a celebrity. Media reports of suicide can induce a copycat or "Werther effect". There is increasing evidence that sensationalistic reporting of suicides has a direct effect on increasing suicide rates. Responsible reporting guidelines drawn up in consultation with media professionals have been shown to improve reporting of suicides. Local reporting on suicides tends to be sensationalistic but also has a strong educational slant. The media should educate both the public and the medical professional about their role in suicide prevention.
Guidelines as Topic ; Humans ; Imitative Behavior ; Mass Media ; standards ; Singapore ; Suicide ; prevention & control

OBJECTIVE: To observe the moxibustion sensation and the clinical therapeutic effect of heat-sensitive moxibustion of two different suspension moxibustion methods and imitation moxibustion apparatus on mild to moderate knee osteoarthritis (KOA), and compare the therapeutic effect of different moxibustion methods. METHODS: A total of 90 patients with mild to moderate KOA were randomized into a hand-held group (30 cases, 1 case dropped off), an imitation moxibustion apparatus group (30 cases) and a moxibustion shelf group (30 cases, 1 case dropped off). RESULTS: The compositions of moxibustion sensation and numbers of moxibustion sensation types in individuals in the hand-held group and the moxibustion shelf group were richer, the moxibustion sensation intensity was higher than that in the imitation moxibustion apparatus group ( CONCLUSION Heat-sensitive moxibustion can effectively treat knee osteoarthritis, while the different suspension moxibustion methods have an influence on clinical therapeutic effect, hand-held suspension moxibustion has the best efficacy.
Hot Temperature ; Humans ; Imitative Behavior ; Moxibustion ; Osteoarthritis, Knee/therapy* ; Sensation ; Treatment Outcome

PURPOSE: The purposes of this study were (a) to identify smoking behavior by following a cohort representative of the population of 4th grade elementary schoolers in South Korea over a four-year period (2004-2007), and (b) to explore predictors of smoking initiation among non-smokers in Wave 1. METHODS: Secondary data, the Korea Youth Panel Study, was analyzed in this study. First, frequencies or percentages were calculated to identify smoking behavior (i.e., smoking initiation, smoking intensity, and smoking duration). Second, binary logistic regression analysis was performed to examine significant factors related to smoking initiation. RESULTS: Smoking initiation and daily smoking were more pronounced when the participants entered middle school. In bivariate analysis, statistically significant predictors of smoking initiation were loneliness at school, self-control, delinquent behavior, depressive symptoms, and stress. However, after controlling for other factors, only a high level of risk-taking tendency and a greater number of delinquent behaviors remained statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Based on greater involvement in smoking among first-year middle schoolers, smoking prevention strategies should be provided to elementary schoolers rather than middle schoolers. A risk-taking tendency and delinquent behaviors should be considered as proxy measures to detect the high-risk group for smoking initiation.
Adolescent ; *Adolescent Behavior ; Child ; *Child Behavior ; Cohort Studies ; Demography ; Depression ; Family Characteristics ; Female ; Humans ; Imitative Behavior ; Male ; Smoking/prevention & control/*psychology