Self-harm injury among older adults is a pressing problem that demands social attention in South Korea. This study sought to identify the association between physical and mental illness and hospitalization following self-harm injuries, compared to non-self-harm injuries, among older adults living in Korea. We analyzed individuals aged 65 and older who were admitted to hospitals either for self-harm or non-self-harm from a population-based survey of the Korea National Hospital Discharge In-depth Injury Survey (KNHDIS). A logistic regression analysis was performed. Compared with non-self-harm-related hospitalization, self-harm hospitalization was associated with higher odds of depression, other disorders of the nervous system, malignancies, alcohol misuse and dependence, and drug-related dependence. Dementia, anxiety disorder, diabetes, arthritis, cerebral palsy, and other paralytic syndromes had a lower likelihood of leading to self-harm than non-self-harm hospitalization. The findings of this study can inform medical professionals to identify older adults with a heightened risk of self-harming behavior leading to hospitalization.

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The increase in the number of platform workers has led to active discussions on the various difficulties they face. Existing studies on their work‐related accidents have focused on physical, traffic‐related accidents in offline places. However, platform workers are more likely to suffer from psychological stress or illnesses while performing immaterial and cognitive labour in the virtual space. Through in‐depth interviews with 30 platform workers in South Korea, this study investigated platform workers’ mental distress and identified five common psychological problems: (a) stress from real‐time assessment in public space; (b) exhaustion from working without work‐life boundaries; (c) infringement of privacy through exposure of private life; (d) verbal abuse in non‐face‐to‐face relations; and (e) isolation from working alone. In doing so, this study seeks to define the mental difficulties of platform workers as digital industrial accidents and asserts the need to establish a new social security system for the digital economy.