TY - JOUR PY - 2023// TI - Spatiotemporal patterns of suicide in Korea from 2009 to 2019 using geographic information systems JO - Alpha psychiatry A1 - Lee, Dongyun A1 - Park, Jong-Ho A1 - Kim, Bong-Jo A1 - Cha, Boseok A1 - Lee, So-Jin A1 - Seo, Ji-Yeong A1 - Choi, Jae-Won A1 - Lee, Young-Ji A1 - Ji Lim, Eun A1 - Kang, Nuree A1 - Lee, Cheol-Soon SP - 51 EP - 55 VL - 24 IS - 2 N2 - OBJECTIVE: When analyzing factors related to suicide, it is necessary to consider the regional characteristics of the areas where individuals live in addition to individual factors. This study aimed to investigate the spatiotemporal association between suicide rates and geographic features and the patterns of this association for all administrative areas in South Korea from 2009 to 2019.

METHODS: The data used in this study were obtained from the National Statistical Office of the Korean Statistical Information Service. For suicide rates, age-standardized mortality index data per 100 000 people were used. All administrative districts from 2009 to 2019 were divided into 229 regions. Emerging hotspot analysis was used for a 3-dimensional analysis to simultaneously evaluate temporal and spatial clusters.

RESULTS: In the 229 regions, there were 27 (11.8%) hotspots and 60 (26.2%) cold spots. Hotspot pattern analysis found 2 (0.9%) new spots, 1 (0.4%) persistent spot, 23 (10.0%) sporadic spots, and 1 (0.4%) oscillating spot.

CONCLUSION: This study found geographic differences in the spatiotemporal patterns of suicide rates in South Korea. The utilization of national resources for suicide prevention should be selectively and intensively prioritized in 3 areas that exhibit unique spatiotemporal patterns.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 2757-8038 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.5152/alphapsychiatry.2023.221011 ID - ref1 ER -