Journal of the Korean Academy of Family Medicine 1990;11(3):1-16.
Published online March 1, 1990.

자살기도자에 대한 사회정신의학적 연구 (A socio-psychiatric study of suicide attempts in Korea)

윤방부(Youn Bang Bu),이혜리(Lee Hye Ree),이장희(Lee Jang Hee),박계열(Park Kye Yeol),신승철(Seung Chul Shin),이호영(Ho Young Lee),김진학(Ji Hack Kim),민성혜(Sung Hye Min),김임(Im Kim)

연세대학교의과대학 가정의학교실 연세대학교의과대학 정신과학교실 전주예수병원 정신과

Abstract

The clarification of the psycho-social characteristics and causes of suicide attempts would be essential for the establishment of a therapeutic programs as well as preventive measures.
For this purpose, 63 cases of suicide attempts and 68 controls were studied about their demographic characteristics, related life events, depression, locus of control, social support. The study was conducted for 4 months from June 1, 1989, to September 30, 1989. The studied 63 suicide attempts were patients visited emergency rooms of Kangwha Community Hospital, Chunju Jesus Hospital and Suboo Hospital during that period. The controls of 68 patients were selected from psychiatric outpatients of the hospitals at the same period.
The results of the study are summarized as follows:
1. The sex ratio of the subjects was 1:1.5. The mean age was 34.4 years in subjects and 42.5 years in controls. The younger age group (age 15-34) was the most prevalent of the subjects. The middle social class was the most prevalent of the subjects by socio-economic status index.
2. Among the subjects, the proportion of those who had past and family history of suicide attempt was 17.7% and 12.4% respectively. However, they showed no significant difference compared to controls.
The method of suicide attempts showed significant difference according to their localities. The most common method used by the subjects was the ingestion of sedatives in the urban area and the agricultural chemicals in the rural area.
3. In the comparison of mean scores of suicide attempts and controls on th psycho-social scale, the life events scale, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and the scale of social support showed significant difference. In the scale of locus of control, there was no significant difference.
4. The discriminant analysis was done on age, sex, residences, marital state, socio-economic status index, past and family history of suicide attempt and rated scales. Only by the rated scales, the standardized discriminant function coefficients were calculable on both groups. It follows that an average 83.3% on subjects and an average 57.1% on controls were correctly classified.