Introduction
Suicide is the most serious health problem worldwide and an important social problem emerging in South Korea today. South Korea’s suicide rate was approximately 2.5 times higher than the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average in 2012 and about eight ti...
Introduction
Suicide is the most serious health problem worldwide and an important social problem emerging in South Korea today. South Korea’s suicide rate was approximately 2.5 times higher than the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average in 2012 and about eight times higher than that of Greece, which had the lowest suicide rate amongst all OECD countries. Suicide accounts for the single highest economic burden compared to other diseases; however, in South Korea, few studies exist on the economic cost of suicides and suicide attempts. Therefore, the study aim was to calculate these economic costs using current data.
Methods
Cause-of-death data from the National Statistical Office for 2010 were used to ascertain the socioeconomic costs resulting from suicides and suicide attempts in South Korea. Suicides were estimated and loss of future income due to early death was calculated; additionally, the number of rescued suicide attempters was estimated by inverting the number of suicide attempts and suicides, and the indirect and direct costs from a suicide attempt were calculated. As the code for estimating the suicides and suicide attempts could have been overlooked or entered incorrectly if only the data from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service were used, potentially leading to an underestimation of the data, the garbage code, which can redistribute cause of death according to age and gender, was applied and the costs were compared. The costs were also calculated based on the application of labor force participation rates.
Results
The direct medical cost for suicide attempts after applying the labor force participation rate was 152,443 million won; without applying the labor force participation rate, it was 272,937 million won. The direct non-medical cost after applying the labor force participation rate was 7,534 million won; without applying the labor force participation rate, it was 12,902 million won. For the indirect costs from loss of productivity following medical assistance, the outpatient medical cost was 3,456 million won and the hospitalization cost was 239,003 million won after applying the labor force participation rate; without applying the labor force participation rate, the costs were 5,001 million won and 362,079 million won,
respectively. The cause-of-death statistics indicated that the cost arising from early death was 7,370,155 million won. After applying the labor force participation rate and the garbage code, it was 7,917,322 million won; without applying the labor force participation rate, it was 9,869,710 million won; and, after applying the garbage code, it was 10,610,850 million won. Thus, the socioeconomic costs resulting from the total number of suicides was 6,665,951 million won for men and 1,653,837 million won for women after applying the labor force participation rate; without applying the labor force participation rate, the costs were 8,262,917 million won and 3,000,852 million won, respectively.
Conclusion
In South Korea, suicides, suicide attempts, and their associated economic costs are increasing annually; for suicides and suicide attempts, the economic costs were very high, and the resulting national losses were high. Thus, appropriate measures for prevention should be conducted for people suffering from mental disorders, such as depression, as well as for potential suicide attempters with a family history of suicide. Various short- and long-term measures should be implemented for suicide rate reduction and efforts made accordingly to elicit a real impact.
Introduction
Suicide is the most serious health problem worldwide and an important social problem emerging in South Korea today. South Korea’s suicide rate was approximately 2.5 times higher than the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average in 2012 and about eight times higher than that of Greece, which had the lowest suicide rate amongst all OECD countries. Suicide accounts for the single highest economic burden compared to other diseases; however, in South Korea, few studies exist on the economic cost of suicides and suicide attempts. Therefore, the study aim was to calculate these economic costs using current data.
Methods
Cause-of-death data from the National Statistical Office for 2010 were used to ascertain the socioeconomic costs resulting from suicides and suicide attempts in South Korea. Suicides were estimated and loss of future income due to early death was calculated; additionally, the number of rescued suicide attempters was estimated by inverting the number of suicide attempts and suicides, and the indirect and direct costs from a suicide attempt were calculated. As the code for estimating the suicides and suicide attempts could have been overlooked or entered incorrectly if only the data from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service were used, potentially leading to an underestimation of the data, the garbage code, which can redistribute cause of death according to age and gender, was applied and the costs were compared. The costs were also calculated based on the application of labor force participation rates.
Results
The direct medical cost for suicide attempts after applying the labor force participation rate was 152,443 million won; without applying the labor force participation rate, it was 272,937 million won. The direct non-medical cost after applying the labor force participation rate was 7,534 million won; without applying the labor force participation rate, it was 12,902 million won. For the indirect costs from loss of productivity following medical assistance, the outpatient medical cost was 3,456 million won and the hospitalization cost was 239,003 million won after applying the labor force participation rate; without applying the labor force participation rate, the costs were 5,001 million won and 362,079 million won,
respectively. The cause-of-death statistics indicated that the cost arising from early death was 7,370,155 million won. After applying the labor force participation rate and the garbage code, it was 7,917,322 million won; without applying the labor force participation rate, it was 9,869,710 million won; and, after applying the garbage code, it was 10,610,850 million won. Thus, the socioeconomic costs resulting from the total number of suicides was 6,665,951 million won for men and 1,653,837 million won for women after applying the labor force participation rate; without applying the labor force participation rate, the costs were 8,262,917 million won and 3,000,852 million won, respectively.
Conclusion
In South Korea, suicides, suicide attempts, and their associated economic costs are increasing annually; for suicides and suicide attempts, the economic costs were very high, and the resulting national losses were high. Thus, appropriate measures for prevention should be conducted for people suffering from mental disorders, such as depression, as well as for potential suicide attempters with a family history of suicide. Various short- and long-term measures should be implemented for suicide rate reduction and efforts made accordingly to elicit a real impact.
주제어
#suicides, suicide attempts, economic costs, direct medical cost, indirect medical cost, applying the labor force participation rate
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