Medical Xpress – An international team has found that Korean adults living alone with both depression and anxiety face a 558% increased risk of suicide. Individuals aged 40 to 64 and men experienced the highest risk.
Suicide is a global health issue responsible for over 700,000 deaths each year. South Korea has reported the highest suicide rate among Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries from 2003 to 2023, with 24.1 suicides per 100,000 individuals.
Living alone has emerged as a social determinant of health, often linked with social isolation and psychiatric conditions.
Social isolation has previously been associated with adverse outcomes, including psychiatric, dementia, poor nutrition, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.
It can also intensify loneliness and hopelessness, which are psychological precursors to suicidal behavior.
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One-person households now account for more than one-third of all households in Korea, reflecting shifting family structures, declining multigenerational households, and increasing divorce rates.
While living alone is not inherently equal to experiencing social isolation, it is often used as a stand-in for social isolation in population studies as it can increase the likelihood of experiencing it.
In the study, “Suicide Risk and Living Alone With Depression or Anxiety,” published in JAMA Network Open, researchers conducted a population-based cohort study to examine the association of living arrangements and depression or anxiety with suicide risk.
Living arrangements were classified using national registration records. Individuals were categorized as living alone if registered as a one-person household for five or more years at baseline. Depression and anxiety were identified using codes from health insurance claims in the year preceding the health examination. Suicide deaths were determined through national death records.
Among 3,764,279 participants, 112,460 individuals (3.0%) had depression, 232,305 (6.2%) had anxiety, and 319,993 (8.5%) lived alone. Suicide occurred in 11,648 individuals over the study period.
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Researchers speculate that living alone may intensify feelings of hopelessness and isolation, which are established psychological precursors to suicidal behavior …