Gender difference in suicide in Taiwan over a century: a time trend analysis in 1905–1940 and 1959–2012

Abstract

BackgroundSuicide rates are higher in men than in women in most countries, although the gender ratios vary markedly worldwide. We investigated long-term trends in suicide rates and the male-to-female ratios in relation to age, method and economic factors in Taiwan during the Japanese colonial (1905–1940) and postwar (1959–2012) periods.MethodsSuicide data were from the Statistical Reports of Taiwan Governor’s Office (1905–1940), Vital Statistics (1959–1970) and cause-of-death mortality data files (1971–2012). Annual age-standardised and age-specific/method-specific suicide rates by gender and the gender ratios were calculated and examined graphically. The associations between trends in economic indicators, suicide and suicide gender ratio were investigated using Prais-Winsten regression.ResultsThe male-to-female suicide rate ratio increased from below 1 in the 1900s to around 2 by 2000; the reversal was mainly due to a marked reduction in suicide rates in young women coupled with a rise in male suicide between 1905 and 1940. The gender ratio increased again from the 1980s onwards. Poisoning was the most common method in the 1970s–1980s, but its use decreased afterwards, more in women than in men proportionally. The use of gassing for suicide increased markedly in the 2000s and contributed to the rises in overall suicide and the gender ratio. Unemployment rates were more strongly associated with male suicide than female suicide in 1959–2012. Unemployment rates and gross domestic product per capita were positively associated with suicide gender ratios.ConclusionsGender differences in suicide changed remarkably in Taiwan over the past century; such change may be related to cultural, socioeconomic and method-specific factors.

Trend in the prevalence of depressive symptoms in Brazil: results from the Brazilian National Health Survey 2013 and 2019

“…Some of these studies also found that financial crises, periods of recession, and unemployment have a higher impact in specific subgroups, especially among the youngest and among men 31 . Probably, these groups are more affected by economic crisis.…”

Rescuing Public Health From the Global Capitalist Regime: The Public Health Liberation Movement in Taiwan

“…Another cluster is dedicated to understanding the effects of marketization and medicalization on the public health sector. For example, Chang (2009)‘s study finds that the disengagement of the earlier public health stations with the local community is the result of the marketization and over-medicalization of the public health sector. Over-medicalization disproportionately increases doctors’ social status, but at the same time weakens other health professions’ status (Chang, 2003).…”