Case management interventions for suicide attempters aimed at helping adjust their social life to prevent reattempts have high nonparticipation and dropout rates. We analyzed the clinical characteristics of the group who refused to participate in the suicide prevention program in Korea. A total of 489 patients with a suicide attempt who visited Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital, the Catholic University of Korea, from December 2009 to December 2013 were analyzed. All patients were divided into the participation group (n = 262) and the refusal group (n = 227) according to their participation in the case management program. Demographic and clinical characteristics of each group were examined. Results showed that the refusal group had low risks for suicide in terms of risk factors related with psychopathologies and presenting suicide behavior. That is, the refusal group had less patients with co-morbid medical illnesses and more patients with mild severity of depression compared to the participation group. However, the refusal group had more interpersonal conflict, more isolation of social integrity, and more impaired insight about suicide attempt. The results suggest that nonparticipation in the case management program may depend upon the patient's impaired insight about the riskiness of suicide and lack of social support.
Adult ; Case Management ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Mental Disorders/diagnosis/*psychology ; Middle Aged ; Republic of Korea ; Suicide, Attempted/*prevention & control/*psychology ; Treatment Refusal/*psychology

The frequency and extent of the existence of a familial suicide prevention plan may differ across cultures. The aim of this work was, therefore, to determine how common it was for families to develop a suicide prevention plan and to compare the main measures used by families with and without such a plan, after an attempt to commit suicide was made by a member of a family living in a rural area of Korea. On the basis of the presence or absence of a familial suicide prevention plan, we compared 50 recruited families that were divided into 2 groups, with Group A (31 families) employing a familial suicide prevention plan after a suicide attempt by a family member, and Group B (19 families) not doing so. The strategy that was employed most frequently to prevent a reoccurrence among both populations was promoting communication among family members, followed by seeking psychological counseling and/or psychiatric treatment. Contrary to our expectation, the economic burden from medical treatment after a suicide attempt did not influence the establishment of a familial suicide prevention plan. It is a pressing social issue that 38% (19 of 50) of families in this study did not employ a familial suicide prevention plan, even after a family member had attempted suicide. Regional suicide prevention centers and/or health authorities should pay particular attention to these patients and their families.
Family ; Female ; Hospitalization/*economics ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Patient Care Planning/*statistics & numerical data ; Republic of Korea ; Risk Factors ; Suicide, Attempted/*prevention & control ; Surveys and Questionnaires

During visits to emergency medical facilities, the primary care of and risk identification for individuals who have attempted suicide is considered an important element in suicide prevention. With the ultimate goal of helping to prevent suicide, the aim of the present study was to determine the characteristics of patients with self-inflicted injuries who presented in the emergency department. Patients with self-inflicted injuries who visited 1 of 3 sentinel emergency medical centers from 2007 through 2009 were included in the study. The characteristics, methods, and reasons for suicide attempts were evaluated. Moreover, predictors of severe outcomes were evaluated. A total of 2,996 patients with self-inflicted injuries visited the three centers during a period of 3 yr. The male-to-female suicide ratio was 1:1.38 (P < 0.001). The mean age was 41 yr. Poisoning was the most common method of self-inflicted injury (68.7%) among all age groups. Medication was the primary means of injury in the < 50 age group, and the use of agricultural chemicals was the primary means in the > or = 50 age group. The reasons for attempting suicide varied among the age groups. The predictors of severe outcome are male gender, older age, and not having consumed alcohol.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Age Factors ; Aged ; Child ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Poisoning/epidemiology ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Self-Injurious Behavior/*epidemiology ; Sex Factors ; Suicide/prevention & control ; Suicide, Attempted/*statistics & numerical data ; Young Adult

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the meaning and essence of suicide for elderly people who had previously attempted suicide as an older person. METHODS: Giorgi's descriptive phenomenology was used for analysis. The researchers carried out in-depth interviews, recordings and memos individually with four elders. The elders were individuals who had attempted suicide sometime in the past 5 yr. They were interviewed from 5 to 10 times using open-ended questions and a semi-structural format. Demographic data were also collected. RESULTS: The meaning of suicide before a suicide attempt in older people had four core components: conflict with family, powerlessness and despair in their life with a drop in self-esteem, using internal and external resources to resolve their troubles and awareness of imminent crisis. CONCLUSION: These results of this study will increase understanding of suicide in older people by defining their subjective experience of suicide attempts and applying grounded data in the development of programs that provide concrete intervention strategies to prevent suicide in elderly people.
Aged ; Conflict (Psychology) ; Depression ; Female ; Humans ; Interviews as Topic ; Male ; Self Concept ; Self Psychology ; Suicide, Attempted/prevention & control/*psychology

Suicide rate in depression is higher than that in general population, therefore, it is a major topic how to prevent the suicide in depression in clinic. In this paper, we review the risk factors in depression with suicidal behaviors and also the latest progress in neuroimaging, neuroendocrinology and molecular genetics, which may reveal the potential neurobiological mechanism of suicide in depression, and thus help the prevention of suicidality and further research.
Brain ; physiopathology ; Depression ; physiopathology ; psychology ; Humans ; Neurobiology ; Risk Factors ; Suicide ; prevention & control ; psychology ; Suicide, Attempted ; prevention & control ; psychology

PURPOSE: The suicide rate of adolescents in Korea is increasing annually. Therefore, this research was done to identify the suicide attempt rate of middle and high school students and to identify factors that influence suicidal attempts. METHODS: The Korea Youth Health Risk Behavior Web-based Survey (2007) was used as data. Discriminant analysis and logistic regression were performed to analyze the data depending on gender to consider the gender difference in assessing the influence of each independent variable on suicidal attempts. RESULTS: Discriminant analysis according on gender showed that 13 factors correlated with suicidal attempts for boys, and 20 factors for girls. The most highly correlated factors were smoking, depression and inhalation experience. For inhalation experience, boys had 2.7 times higher possibility of suicide attempts (95% CI 1.8-3.0) and girls, a 2.4 times higher possibility (95% CI 1.7-3.5). CONCLUSION: The results of the study indicate a need to classify adolescents for expectation of suicide risk and high danger for suicidal attempts through, and introduce suicide prevention programs for these adolescents. In particular, it is necessary to start intervention with students who smoke, have sexual and inhalation experiences and high levels of depression.
Adolescent ; Adolescent Behavior/*psychology ; Adolescent Psychology ; Depression ; Discriminant Analysis ; Female ; Humans ; Inhalant Abuse ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Questionnaires ; Risk Factors ; Sex Factors ; Smoking ; Stress, Psychological ; Suicide, Attempted/*prevention & control/statistics & numerical data

PURPOSE: This study was done to explore the relationship of social support and meaning of life to suicidal thoughts among patients with cancer. METHODS: Data were collected by questionnaires from 138 patients who had been in cancer treatment at medical clinics and 8 patients who were members of an internet cancer association. The data were collected between August and November 2009 and analyzed using SPSS 12.0. RESULTS: Of the participants, 47.3% reported having had suicidal thoughts and 16.4% had attempted suicide since the diagnosis of cancer. The study participants received most support from family members, but 73.3% reported experiencing an existential vacuum. The suicide attempt group had significantly higher scores according to gender, age, level of education, diagnosis, treatment modality, level of activity, caregiver and social support compare to the suicide thought group. Suicidal thoughts were negatively related to social support and meaning of life was positively associated with social support. Support from family and friends and diagnosis explained 50.0% of variance for suicidal thoughts with 36.0% of variance being explained by family support. CONCLUSION: Nurses should be able to identify risk factors for suicide in cancer patients. Prevention and intervention efforts need to be directed toward improving social support, family support in particular, and assisting patients finding meaning in life after a diagnosis of cancer.
Adult ; Age Factors ; Aged ; Breast Neoplasms/*psychology ; Female ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms/*psychology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; *Quality of Life ; Questionnaires ; Sex Factors ; *Social Support ; Suicide, Attempted/*prevention & control

Purpose: There has been no nationwide surveillance survey of poisoning cases in Korea. This study examined the clinical characteristics of poisoning admissions in order to obtain preliminary data for future planning. Methods: This study retrospectively reviewed the data on poisoning admissions of 150 hospitals based on the hospital discharge injury surveillance data of Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Korea from January to December in 2004. The demographic data, poisons used, causes of poisoning, reasons for attempted suicide and mortality rate was investigated according to the age group. The factors associated with mortality were also evaluated. Results: A total 836 patients admitted for poisoning were analyzed. Their mean age was 46.5+/-19.5 years (male 415, female 421). The most frequent age group was the 4th and 5th decades. The most common poisons involved were pesticides (45%) and medications (23%). The majority (64%) involved intentional poisoning except for those in the 1st decade. The most common reason for the attempted suicide was family problems. However, individual disease was the most common reason in those over 60 years. The overall mortality rate was 8.7% (73/836). Pesticides and being elderly (over 65 years old) were strongly correlated with fatality. Conclusion: The incidence of intentional poisoning increases from the 2nd decade making it a preventable injury. "Overall, the incidence of intentional poisoning increases from the 2nd decade". Therefore, there is a need to frame a prevention policy corresponding to each factor related to fatality, such as an elderly population and pesticides.
Aged ; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.) ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Korea ; Pesticides ; Poisons ; Retrospective Studies ; Suicide, Attempted

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to develop an integrated suicide violence prevention program for adolescents. Another purpose was to evaluate the effects of the integrated suicide violence prevention program on self-esteem, parentchild communication, aggression, and suicidal ideation in adolescents. METHODS: The study employed a quasi -experimental design. Participants for the study were high school students, 24 in the experimental group and 25 in the control group. Data was analyzed by using the SPSS/WIN. 11.5 program with chi-square test, t-test, and 2-way ANOVA. RESULTS: Participants in the integrated suicide violence prevention program reported increased self-esteem scores, which was significantly different from those in the control group. Participants in the integrated suicide violence prevention program reported decreased aggression and suicidal ideation scores, which was significantly different from those in the control group. CONCLUSION: The integrated suicide violence prevention program was effective in improving self-esteem and decreasing aggression and suicidal ideation for adolescents. Therefore, this approach is recommended as the integrated suicide violence prevention strategy for adolescents.
Adolescent ; Adolescent Behavior ; Adolescent Psychology ; Data Interpretation, Statistical ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Parent-Child Relations ; *Program Development ; Program Evaluation ; Self Concept ; Suicide/*prevention & control ; Suicide, Attempted/*prevention & control ; Violence/*prevention & control

PURPOSE: Suicide has been considered a large public health concern in recent years because suicide mortality has been increasing rapidly. This study was done to investigate the prevalence and risk factors of a suicide attempt among adolescents in South Korea. METHODS: The data of the 2006 Youth Health Risk Behavior web-based Survey collected by the Korean Center for Disease Control was analyzed using logistic regression for this study. RESULTS: The prevalence of a suicide attempt was 5.2% in South Korea. The risk factors of a suicide attempt were suicidal ideation (odds 31.83), depression (odds 7.98), drug use (odds 4.67), currently smoking (odds 3.19), feeling unhappiness (odds 2.77), stress (odds 2.60), currently drinking alcohol (odds 2.39), sexual activity (odds 2.33), living with neither parent (odds 2.24), initial alcohol drinking by age 9 (odds 1.80), health status (odds 2.15), skipped breakfast (odds 1.75), disease (odds 1.65), and school records (odds 1.22). CONCLUSION: Suicide screening and prevention programs should be developed, considering these risk factors. Suicide prevention programs should be applied to the at risk population prior to a suicide attempt.
Adolescent ; Adolescent Behavior ; *Adolescent Psychology ; Depression ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Peer Group ; Risk Factors ; Risk-Taking ; Suicide/prevention & control ; *Suicide, Attempted/statistics & numerical data