Gender differences in suicide risk by socio-demographic factors in Hong Kong.
Some peculiarly low male-to-female suicide ratios have been reported in the Far Eastern populations. This article attempts to investigate whether there are gender differences in suicide risk by socio-demographic factors in Hong Kong, and hereby to explain the low male-to-female suicide ratios. The effects of marital status, duration-of-residence, and occupational status on suicide are first studied by periodic suicide rates in 1990-1992, and 2000-2002, then by Poisson regression. Some interesting results are found: Unlike most findings elsewhere, migration in Hong Kong did not induce suicide; occupational status was negatively related to suicide only for men but not for women; the particularly low male-to-female suicide ratio was not due to a larger protection from marriage for men than for women as reported in the literature, but very probably to a very high suicide rate for the non-working population. The authors suggest some plausible explanations of the findings and hence further research to be conducted.
Kwan
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YK
Department of Applied Mathematics, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hunghom, Kowloon, Hong Kong. maykkwan@inet.polyu.edu.hk
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D000328:Adult; D003710:Demography; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D005260:Female; D005544:Forecasting; D006723:Hong Kong / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013405:Suicide / Q000208:ethnology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends; D014478:Unemployment