Objectives: South Korea’s suicide rate is the highest among both Western and other Eastern countries. This was the first national study to evaluate prevalence and correlates of each suicidal behavior in Korea, and to compare multiple and single suicide attempts.
Method: A total of 6510 adults completed face-to-face interviews (response rate 81.7%) through randomly chosen one-person-per-households from July 2006 to April 2007. Lifetime prevalence and correlates were evaluated with the Korean version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (K-CIDI), and a questionnaire to inquire about suicidal behaviors.
Results: The lifetime prevalence of suicidal ideation, plan, and attempt in South Korea was 15.2%, 3.3%, and 3.2% (single 2.1% and multiple 1.1%), respectively. Suicidal ideation was significantly associated with female gender, but not with age. On the contrary, younger age was associated with attempted suicide and more strongly associated with multiple suicide attempts. Suicide attempts were the most strongly associated with mood disorders, especially bipolar disorders. These were also the most strongly associated disorders with both single and multiple suicide attempts; however, it was more strongly associated with multiple attempts than single. Age of first suicide attempt was significantly later in subjects with mood disorders than those without, but it showed no significant difference with respect to anxiety disorders.
Conclusions: Suicidal behaviors are highly prevalent in Korea, especially suicide attempts in young adults. Bipolar disorders were the most strongly associated disorder with suicide attempts, more strongly associated with multiple attempts. Mood disorders are associated with later onset of first suicidal attempts.