著者
Tatsuhiko Anzai Keisuke Fukui Tsubasa Ito Yuri Ito Kunihiko Takahashi
出版者
Japan Epidemiological Association
雑誌
Journal of Epidemiology (ISSN:09175040)
巻号頁・発行日
pp.JE20200443, (Released:2020-12-12)
参考文献数
34
被引用文献数
2 26

Background: Suicide amidst the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is an important issue. In Japan, the number of suicides in April 2020 decreased by nearly 20% from that in 2019. To assess the impact of an infectious disease pandemic, excess mortality is often discussed. Our main purpose was evaluating excess mortality from suicide in Japan during the early pandemic period.Methods: We used data on suicides collected by the National Police Agency of Japan until June 2020. We estimated excess mortality during the early pandemic period (March–June 2020) using a time-series model of the number of suicides before the pandemic. A quasi-Poisson model was employed for the estimation. We evaluated excess mortalities by the categories of age and sex, and prefectures.Results: No significant excess mortality was observed throughout the early pandemic; instead, a downward trend in the number of suicides for both sexes was noted. For males, negative values of excess mortalities below the lower bound of the 95% prediction interval were observed in April and May. All numbers of females during the period were included in the interval, and the excess mortalities in June were positive and higher than those in April and May. In Tokyo, the number of suicides was below the lower bound throughout the period.Conclusion: Our results suggest that various changes such as communication, and social conditions amid the early COVID-19 pandemic induced a decrease in suicides in Japan. However, continuous monitoring is needed to evaluate the long-term effects of the pandemic on suicides.
著者
Kohtaro Kikuchi Tatsuhiko Anzai Kunihiko Takahashi
出版者
Japan Epidemiological Association
雑誌
Journal of Epidemiology (ISSN:09175040)
巻号頁・発行日
pp.JE20220186, (Released:2022-10-15)
参考文献数
27
被引用文献数
5

Background: Japan has witnessed an unusual increase in the number of suicides among women during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. An analysis is required to identify the influencing factors during the pandemic and develop new measures for preventing suicides.Methods: Data on the number of monthly suicides were collected from the National Police Agency of Japan. The expected number of suicides among women during the pandemic was estimated using a time-series model based on pre-pandemic data, considering year-to-year trends. The observation-to-expectation (O/E) ratio of suicides was estimated from March 2020 to October 2021 using job status, suicide motive, and age.Results: The number of suicides among women in Japan increased beyond the expected number until October 2021. The O/E ratio based on job status, suicide motive, and age (except self-employed, unknown job status, and women ≥80 years) was significantly above 1.0 from March–December 2020, and the increase in suicides continued in almost all categories in 2021.Conclusion: Although several reasons were reported for increased suicides among women in Japan during the pandemic (e.g., economic downturn, financial instability, and loneliness), suicides increased irrespective of job status, suicide motive, or age. The preventive measures for suicide without omission might have been important during the pandemic, as opposed to limiting interventions to the reported specific aspects.
著者
Kohtaro Kikuchi Tatsuhiko Anzai Kunihiko Takahashi
出版者
Japan Epidemiological Association
雑誌
Journal of Epidemiology (ISSN:09175040)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.33, no.1, pp.45-51, 2023-01-05 (Released:2023-01-05)
参考文献数
27
被引用文献数
5

Background: Japan has witnessed an unusual increase in the number of suicides among women during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. An analysis is required to identify the influencing factors during the pandemic and develop new measures for preventing suicides.Methods: Data on the number of monthly suicides were collected from the National Police Agency of Japan. The expected number of suicides among women during the pandemic was estimated using a time-series model based on pre-pandemic data, considering year-to-year trends. The observed-to-expected (O/E) ratio of suicides was estimated from March 2020 to October 2021 using job status, suicide motive, and age.Results: The number of suicides among women in Japan increased beyond the expected number until October 2021. The O/E ratio based on job status, suicide motive, and age (except self-employed, unknown job status, and women aged ≥80 years) was significantly above 1.0 from March–December 2020, and the increase in suicides continued in almost all categories in 2021.Conclusion: Although several reasons were reported for increased suicides among women in Japan during the pandemic (eg, economic downturn, financial instability, and loneliness), suicides increased irrespective of job status, suicide motive, or age. Comprehensive measures to prevent suicide might have been important during the pandemic, instead of limiting interventions to the reported specific population.
著者
Tatsuhiko Anzai Keisuke Fukui Tsubasa Ito Yuri Ito Kunihiko Takahashi
出版者
Japan Epidemiological Association
雑誌
Journal of Epidemiology (ISSN:09175040)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.31, no.2, pp.152-156, 2021-02-05 (Released:2021-02-05)
参考文献数
34
被引用文献数
26

Background: Suicide amidst the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is an important issue. In Japan, the number of suicides in April 2020 decreased by nearly 20% from that in 2019. To assess the impact of an infectious disease pandemic, excess mortality is often discussed. Our main purpose was evaluating excess mortality from suicide in Japan during the early pandemic period.Methods: We used data on suicides collected by the National Police Agency of Japan until June 2020. We estimated excess mortality during the early pandemic period (March–June 2020) using a time-series model of the number of suicides before the pandemic. A quasi-Poisson model was employed for the estimation. We evaluated excess mortalities by the categories of age and sex, and by prefecture.Results: No significant excess mortality was observed throughout the early pandemic; instead, a downward trend in the number of suicides for both sexes was noted. For males, negative values of excess mortalities below the lower bound of the 95% prediction interval were observed in April and May. All numbers of females during the period were included in the interval, and the excess mortalities in June were positive and higher than those in April and May. In Tokyo, the number of suicides was below the lower bound throughout the period.Conclusion: Our results suggest that various changes, such as communication, and social conditions amid the early COVID-19 pandemic induced a decrease in suicides in Japan. However, continuous monitoring is needed to evaluate the long-term effects of the pandemic on suicides.