Changes in South Korean urbanicity and suicide rates, 1992 to 2012

OBJECTIVES: Studies have highlighted the association between the degree of urbanicity and spatial disparities in suicide, but few have evaluated its changes across time. We explored the geospatial trends of suicide in South Korea from 1992 to 2012, and their relationship to the nation's evolving urbanicity. SETTING: South Korea. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Age-sex-specific suicide rate. RESULTS: Suicide rates increased in all regions of South Korea during the study period. Controlling the effects of age and sex, there was an overall inverse relationship between the degree of urbanicity and regional suicide rates. These associations were, however, attenuated across the periods, as there were smaller increases in suicide rates in mid-sized urban regions as compared to larger cities and to rural areas. Increases over time in the suicide rates among youth and working-age adults were greater in large urban centres and in rural regions. For elders, the increase was far greater in rural regions. CONCLUSIONS: The association of urbanicity and the geospatial pattern of suicide in South Korea was a dynamic process and varied by age groups across the course of two decades. Internal migration and related social processes most likely contributed to these changes.