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The effect of national suicide prevention programs on suicide rates in 21 OECD nations

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  • Matsubayashi, Tetsuya
  • Ueda, Michiko

Abstract

Suicide has become a serious and growing public health problem in many countries. To address the problem of suicide, some countries have developed comprehensive suicide prevention programs as a collective political effort. However, no prior research has offered a systematic test of their effectiveness using cross-national data. This paper evaluates whether the national suicide prevention programs in twenty-one OECD nations had the anticipated effect of reducing suicide rates. By analyzing data between 1980 and 2004 with a fixed-effect estimator, we test whether there is a statistically meaningful difference in the suicide rates before and after the implementation of national suicide prevention programs. Our panel data analysis shows that the overall suicide rates decreased after nationwide suicide prevention programs were introduced. These government-led suicide prevention programs are most effective in preventing suicides among the elderly and young populations. By contrast, the suicide rates of working-age groups, regardless of gender, do not seem to respond to the introduction of national prevention programs. Our findings suggest that the presence of a national strategy can be effective in reducing suicide rates.

Suggested Citation

  • Matsubayashi, Tetsuya & Ueda, Michiko, 2011. "The effect of national suicide prevention programs on suicide rates in 21 OECD nations," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(9), pages 1395-1400.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:73:y:2011:i:9:p:1395-1400
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.08.022
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    1. Antonakakis, Nikolaos, 2013. "Fiscal Austerity, Unemployment and Suicide Rates in Greece," MPRA Paper 45198, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Evan Lau & Siti Nur Zahara Hamzah & Sandra Chia Chia Tan & Biagio Simonetti, 2017. "Suicide and socioeconomic determinants in Canada: beyond morality and philosophy," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 51(4), pages 1843-1858, July.
    3. Mitch Kunce, 2022. "The Tenuous Ecological Divorce and Unemployment Link with Suicide: A U.S. Panel Analysis 1968-2020," Journal of Statistical and Econometric Methods, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 11(3), pages 1-2.
    4. Tomasz Piotr Wisniewski & Brendan John Lambe & Keshab Shrestha, 2020. "Do Stock Market Fluctuations Affect Suicide Rates?," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 43(4), pages 737-765, December.
    5. Luo, Weixiang & Xie, Yu, 2020. "Economic growth, income inequality and life expectancy in China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 256(C).
    6. Antonakakis, Nikolaos & Collins, Alan, 2014. "The impact of fiscal austerity on suicide: On the empirics of a modern Greek tragedy," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 39-50.
    7. Michael Lebenbaum & Joyce Cheng & Claire Oliveira & Paul Kurdyak & Juveria Zaheer & Rebecca Hancock-Howard & Peter C. Coyte, 2020. "Evaluating the Cost Effectiveness of a Suicide Prevention Campaign Implemented in Ontario, Canada," Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 189-201, April.

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