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BMC Public Health
Published in: BMC Public Health 1/2024

Open Access 01-12-2024 | Suicide | Research

Sociodemographic and environmental characteristics associated with thoughts of death and suicidal ideation in community-dwelling residents of a rural town in Japan: analyses from a perspective of accompanying problems

Authors: Kozue Morikawa, Kyoko Nomura, Daisuke Onozawa, Hisanaga Sasaki, Yoshiki Morikawa

Published in: BMC Public Health | Issue 1/2024

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Abstract

Objective

Suicide prevention has been focused on primary prevention as a group rather than individuals. However, we aimed to identify sociodemographic and environmental characteristics of individuals with suicidal thoughts among rural residents in Japan.

Methods

In 2015, a cross-sectional home visit survey was conducted in a rural town in Akita Prefecture. A total of 1,844 residents aged ≥ 20 years (response rate, 65%) answered a self-administered questionnaire about suicidal thoughts in the past one month. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to investigate sociodemographic and environmental characteristics associated with suicidal thoughts in models with accompanying problems for human relations problems (HRP), health problems (HP), and financial problems (FP), or with no accompanying problems.

Results

In total, 218 (men 9.4%, women 13.8%) had suicidal thoughts with accompanying problems for HRP (n = 104), HP (n = 112), and FP (n = 72). The risk characteristics were Kessler Psychological Distress Scale scores ≥ 9 in models with HRP, HP, and FP or with no accompanying problems; being a woman and current smoking with no accompanying problems; absence of a person for help in a model of FP; and absence of family member for help in a model of HRP or with no accompanying problems. The mitigating factor were being optimistic (a domain of resilience skills identified by factor analysis) in models of HRP, HP, and FP or with no accompanying problems; being aged 70–79 and being aged ≥ 80 in a model of HRP.

Conclusions

Suicidal thoughts among rural residents in Japan were associated with multifactorial sociodemographic and environmental characteristics.
Appendix
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Metadata
Title
Sociodemographic and environmental characteristics associated with thoughts of death and suicidal ideation in community-dwelling residents of a rural town in Japan: analyses from a perspective of accompanying problems
Authors
Kozue Morikawa
Kyoko Nomura
Daisuke Onozawa
Hisanaga Sasaki
Yoshiki Morikawa
Publication date
01-12-2024
Publisher
BioMed Central
Keywords
Suicide
Suicide
Published in
BMC Public Health / Issue 1/2024
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2458
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-18538-2

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