自殺之流行病學研究

Epidemiology of Suicide

蘇宗偉(Tsung-Wei Su) ； 邱震寰(Chen-Huan Chiu) ； 郭千哲(Chian-Jue Kuo) ； 陳喬琪(Chiao-Chicy Chen) ； 李明濱(Ming-Been Lee)

《北市醫學雜誌》 2卷1期 (2005/01) Pp. 6-15

https://doi.org/10.6200/TCMJ.2005.2.1.03

摘要

自殺是現代精神醫學所要面對的一個重要課題，其受個案特質、心理因素、社會經濟與文化等多重因素的影響，且快速變動與不易測度的特質，使自殺防範成為複雜的任務。因社會經濟與文化的不同，自殺問題的特徵有地區間的差異，可藉由流行病學的研究來瞭解。本文回顧過去國內外的自殺流行病學研究，瞭解目前自殺研究缺乏客觀有效的評估方式，族群間的盛行率差異大且相關因數複雜，自殺意念、自殺計盡、企圖自殺行為(attempted suicide)與自殺死亡間有著不確定關聯。自殺的方式與原因受文化價值與族群因素的影響，由此可進一步瞭解自殺個案的態度與觀點。目前台灣地區自殺問題的相關研究仍然不足，值得日後投入，以達自殺防治成效。

關鍵字

自殺 ； 自殺企圖 ； 流行病學 ； 社會問題 ； 文化

並列摘要

In the modern era, suicidal behavior is an increasingly important issue in psychiatry. The level of vulnerability to suicidal behavior varies over time, and depends principally upon personal characteristics, psychological factors, and socioeconomic environments, making suicide prevention a complicated task. Epidemiological studies can help us understand the differences between research catchment areas and countries in terms of suicidal characteristics. This report reviews the relevant epidemiological studies and proposes that: (1) effective assessment methods for determining the risk of suicide are lacking; (2) very substantial differences and multiple related influences in terms of the prevalence of suicidal behavior exist comparing various ethnicities and discrete populations; and (3) the interrelationships between communication of suicidal ideation, attempted suicide and suicide are uncertain. The ethnic differences and cultural values that affect the precipitants for attempted suicide facilitate discrimination of the attitudes and belief systems of these deeply troubled individuals. We believe that studies of suicide in Taiwan remain inadequate, and investment of research resources into suicide prevention is intrinsically worthwhile. (Full text in Chinese)

並列關鍵字

suicide ； attempted ； epidemiology ； social problems ； culture