Table 3. Characteristics of people who exhibited suicide-related behaviors in Taiwan, 1997–2010.
| Suicide-related behaviors | Deaths by suicide | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alive | Dead | |||||
| Independent variables | Single behavior (n = 52,375), n (%) | Repeated behaviors (n = 5,499), n (%) | Odds ratio (95% CI)ab | (n = 55,281), n (%) | (n = 2,593), n (%) | Odds ratio (95% CI)ac |
| Gender | ||||||
| Male | 23,993 (91.5) | 2,237 (8.5) | 1.00 | 24,638 (93.9) | 1,592 (6.1) | 1.978(1.824–2.415)*** |
| Female | 28,382 (89.7) | 3,262 (10.3) | 1.233(1.165–1.304)*** | 30,643 (96.8) | 1,001 (3.2) | 1.00 |
| Age at hospitalization for suicide-related behaviors | ||||||
| <20 | 3,210(90.5) | 336(9.5) | 1.00 | 3,499(98.7) | 47(1.3) | 1.00 |
| 20–29 | 12,913(90.0) | 1,442(10) | 1.067(0.942–1.209) | 14,075(98.0) | 280(2.0) | 1.481(1.085–2.022)* |
| 30–39 | 11,660(88.7) | 1,490(11.3) | 1.221(1.078–1.383)** | 12,709(96.6) | 441(3.4) | 2.583(1.908–3.498)*** |
| 40–49 | 9,100(90.3) | 983(9.7) | 1.032(0.906–1.176) | 9,605(95.3) | 478(4.7) | 3.705(2.739–5.012)*** |
| 50–59 | 5,243(91.6) | 483(8.4) | 0.880(0.761–1.018) | 5,355(93.5) | 371(6.5) | 5.158(3.796–7.007)*** |
| 60–69 | 4,346(92.4) | 359(7.6) | 0.789(0.675–0.922)** | 4,345(92.3) | 360(7.7) | 6.168(4.537–8.387)*** |
| ≥70 | 5,903(93.6) | 406(6.4) | 0.657(0.565–0.764)*** | 5,693(90.2) | 616(9.8) | 8.055(5.970–10.869)*** |
| Income level | ||||||
| Regular income | 51,382 (90.5) | 5,368 (9.5) | 1.00 | 54,227 (95.6) | 2,523 (4.4) | 1.00 |
| Low income | 993 (88.3) | 131 (11.7) | 1.263(1.050–1.518)* | 1,054 (93.8) | 70 (6.2) | 1.427(1.117–1.824)** |
| Catastrophic illness | ||||||
| Yes | 4,013 (87.1) | 594 (12.9) | 1.459(1.332–1.599)*** | 4,213 (91.4) | 394 (8.6) | 2.172(1.942–2.429)*** |
| No | 48,362 (90.8) | 4,905 (9.2) | 1.00 | 51,068 (95.9) | 2,199 (4.1) | 1.00 |
| Psychiatric diagnosis | ||||||
| Schizophrenia | 3,895 (82.4) | 834 (17.6) | 2.225(2.053–2.412)*** | 4,528 (95.7) | 201 (4.3) | 0.942(0.813–1.091) |
| Without schizophrenia | 48,480 (91.2) | 4,665 (8.8) | 1.00 | 50,753 (95.5) | 2,392 (4.5) | 1.00 |
| BD | 2,286 (75.9) | 726 (24.1) | 3.333(3.050–3.642)*** | 2,926 (97.1) | 86 (2.9) | 0.614(0.494–0.763)*** |
| Without BD | 50,089 (91.3) | 4,773 (8.7) | 1.00 | 52,355 (95.4) | 2,507 (4.6) | 1.00 |
| MDD | 8,013 (79.4) | 2,084 (20.6) | 3.378(3.183–3.585)*** | 9,821 (97.3) | 276 (2.7) | 0.551(0.486–0.626)*** |
| Without MDD | 44,362 (92.9) | 3,415(7.1) | 1.00 | 45,460 (95.2) | 2,317 (4.8) | 1.00 |
| PDs | 1,529 (70.6) | 638 (29.4) | 4.365(3.961–4.809)*** | 2,139 (98.7) | 28 (1.3) | 0.271(0.186–0.395)*** |
| Without PDs | 50,846 (91.3) | 4,861 (8.7) | 1.00 | 53,142 (95.4) | 2,565 (4.6) | 1.00 |
| ARDs | 3,438 (83.7) | 671 (16.3) | 1.978(1.812–2.160)*** | 4,004 (97.4) | 105 (2.6) | 0.540(0.443–0.659)*** |
| Without ARDs | 48,937 (91.0) | 4,828 (9.0) | 1.00 | 51,277 (95.4) | 2,488 (4.6) | 1.00 |
| ADs | 3,067 (84.3) | 572 (15.7) | 1.866(1.699–2.050)*** | 3,621 (99.5) | 18 (0.5) | 0.100(0.063–0.159)*** |
| Without ADs | 49,308 (90.9) | 4,927 (9.1) | 1.00 | 51,660 (95.3) | 2,575 (4.7) | 1.00 |
| Methods | ||||||
| Single method | 51,117 (90.6) | 5,308 (9.4) | 1.00 | 53,875 (95.5) | 2,550 (4.5) | 1.00 |
| Multiple methods | 1,258 (86.8) | 191 (13.2) | 1.462(1.252–1.707)*** | 1,406 (97) | 43 (3) | 0.924(0.805–1.061) |
Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; BD, bipolar disorder; MDD, major depressive disorder; PDs, personality disorders; ARDs, alcohol-related disorders; ADs, adjustment disorders.
a Odds ratio of 1.00 indicates reference group.
b The reference category is single behavior.
c The reference category is alive.
* p < 0.05;
** p < 0.01;
*** p < 0.001.