Table 2. Sex-specific hazard ratios of suicide according to educational levels.

	Men				Women
	Junior high school	High school	Junior or career college	University or higher education	Junior high school	High school	Junior or career college	University or higher education
All ages of 40–59 years
Person-years	202 414	168 847	21 517	39 276	259 699	182 585	47 301	10 257
Number of suicides	119	79	11	9	60	15	5	1
Hazard ratio (95% CI)a	1.00	0.85 (0.64–1.15)	0.95 (0.51–1.76)	0.43 (0.22–0.85)	1.00	0.44 (0.24–0.79)	0.58 (0.23–1.46)	0.57 (0.08–4.15)
Hazard ratio (95% CI)b	1.00	0.91 (0.67–1.22)	1.01 (0.54–1.90)	0.47 (0.24–0.94)	1.00	0.44 (0.24–0.79)	0.56 (0.22–1.43)	0.55 (0.08–4.03)
Ages 40–49 years
Person-years	83 716	96 233	13 349	25 767	100 700	101 890	31 399	7539
Number of suicides	54	50	8	5	18	4	3	—
Hazard ratio (95% CI)a	1.00	0.89 (0.60–1.32)	1.16 (0.55–2.46)	0.39 (0.15–0.97)	1.00	0.21 (0.07–0.63)	0.51 (0.15–1.79)	—
Hazard ratio (95% CI)b	1.00	0.92 (0.62–1.38)	1.26 (0.59–2.69)	0.43 (0.17–1.08)	1.00	0.21 (0.07–0.65)	0.51 (0.14–1.81)	—
Ages 50–59 years
Person-years	118 698	72 615	8168	13 509	158 999	80 695	15 902	2718
Number of suicides	65	29	3	4	42	11	2	1
Hazard ratio (95% CI)a	1.00	0.81 (0.52–1.27)	0.69 (0.22–2.21)	0.58 (0.21–1.61)	1.00	0.61 (0.31–1.21)	0.51 (0.12–2.14)	1.40 (0.19–10.2)
Hazard ratio (95% CI)b	1.00	0.87 (0.55–1.38)	0.70 (0.22–2.26)	0.64 (0.23–1.78)	1.00	0.60 (0.30–1.19)	0.49 (0.12–2.03)	1.30 (0.18–9.60)

CI, confidence interval.

^aAdjusted for age and study areas.

^bAdjusted further for previous history of stroke, ischemic heart disease, or cancer (yes/no), perceived mental stress (mild, moderate, or severe), alcohol consumption (nondrinker, occasional drinker, or current drinker), smoking status (never, ex-, or current smoker), living with spouse (yes/no), and full-time worker (yes/no).