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Trends in suicide deaths before and after the COVID-19 outbreak in Korea

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  • Seunghyong Ryu
  • Hee Jung Nam
  • Min Jhon
  • Ju-Yeon Lee
  • Jae-Min Kim
  • Sung-Wan Kim

Abstract

We investigated the effect of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on suicide trends in Korea via a time-series analysis. We used Facebook Prophet to generate forecasting models based on the monthly numbers of suicide deaths in Korea between 1997 and 2018, validated the models by comparison with the 2019 numbers, and predicted the numbers of suicides in 2020. We compared the expected and observed numbers of suicides during the COVID-19 pandemic. The total numbers of suicides during the COVID-19 pandemic did not deviate from projections based on the pre-pandemic period. However, the number of suicides among women and those under the age of 34 years significantly exceeded the expected level. The COVID-19 pandemic did not increase the overall suicide rate significantly. However, suicides among women and young people increased, suggesting that the pandemic might drive more members of these groups to suicide. Further studies are needed to verify the long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on suicide.

Suggested Citation

  • Seunghyong Ryu & Hee Jung Nam & Min Jhon & Ju-Yeon Lee & Jae-Min Kim & Sung-Wan Kim, 2022. "Trends in suicide deaths before and after the COVID-19 outbreak in Korea," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(9), pages 1-12, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0273637
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0273637
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jae-Hyun Kim & Eun-Cheol Park & Jung-Mo Nam & SoHee Park & Jaelim Cho & Sun-Jung Kim & Jae-Woo Choi & Eun Cho, 2013. "The Werther Effect of Two Celebrity Suicides: an Entertainer and a Politician," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(12), pages 1-1, December.
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