Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health

The Korean Society for Preventive Medicine (대한예방의학회)
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The Association Between Public Social Expenditure and Suicides: Evidence from OECD Countries

공공사회지출이 자살률에 미치는 영향: OECD 국가를 중심으로

  • Park, Yoo-Jin (Seoul National University Graduate School of Public Health) ;
  • Kim, Myoung-Hee (Department of Preventive Medicine Eulji University College of Medicine) ;
  • Kown, Soon-Man (Seoul National University Graduate School of Public Health) ;
  • Shin, Young-Jeon (Department of Preventive Medicine Hanyang University School of Medicine)
  • 박유진 (서울대학교 보건대학원) ;
  • 김명희 (을지대학교 의과대학 예방의학교실) ;
  • 권순만 (서울대학교 보건대학원) ;
  • 신영전 (한양대학교 의과대학교 예방의학교실)
  • Published : 2009.03.31
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Abstract

Objectives : This study aimed to examine the association between public social expenditure(PSE) and suicides in the 27 countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development(OECD) from 1980 to 2003. Methods : The age-standardized suicide rates and their annual change(%) were obtained from the OECD Health Data 2007. As a measure of social protection, the PSE(% GDP) was used. The covariates included the annual divorce rate(/100,000 population), fertility rate(number of children/woman aged 15 to 49 years), GDP per capita(US$ PPP), male unemployment rate(%), life expectancy(years) and alcohol consumption(liter/capita) for each country, which were all obtained from the OECD Health Data 2007 and the OECD Social Indicators 2006. Using hierarchical linear models that included these covariates, the effects of PSE on suicides(Model 1) and the annual percent change (Model 2) were examined(Model 3). Also, sub-sample analyses were done for six countries that experienced political/economic transition. Results : We could not find significant effects of PSE on suicides(Model 1), but we observed significantly negative effects on the annual percent change for men and women(Model 2). Such findings were replicated in the sub-sample analysis, and moreover, the effect size was much larger(Model 3). Conclusions : Our finding suggests that social welfare protection can be a pivotal factor for suicide epidemiology, and especially in countries experiencing a social crisis or transition.

Keywords

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