Geographical inequalities in suicide rates and area deprivation in South Korea

Our study described the spatial mapping of age-standardised suicide rates and area deprivation across small areas (district level) in South Korea, and examined the relationship between the two using a spatial lag model. This spatial model was employed to take into account the spatial dependence and interactions between neighbouring districts, as indicated by Moran’s I and Geary’ C statistics. Our findings highlighted substantial geographical variation in suicide rates and the importance of area deprivation in explaining the disparities, especially for males. The level of excess suicides (i.e. 12-13 per 100,000 males) in highly deprived areas was similar to the average suicide rates of OECD countries. Prioritising development in relatively more deprived areas would potentially minimise resource barriers (e.g. job opportunities, access to amenities and services) that can impede local/regional policy actions aimed at addressing population compositional issues (i.e. individual-level targeting).