title: The impact of indiscriminate media coverage of a celebrity suicide on a society with a high suicide rate: epidemiological findings on copycat suicides from South Korea.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study examines the extent to which the indiscriminate media coverage of the famous young actress Lee Eun-ju's suicide in 2005 affected suicides overall and in specific subgroups (by age, gender, and suicide method) in a suicide-prone society, South Korea.
  
  
  METHODS
  South Korea's 2003-2005 suicide data (n=34,237) were obtained from death certificate records of the National Statistical Office (NSO). Data was analyzed with Poisson time series auto-regression models.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After adjusting for confounding factors (such as seasonal variation, calendar year, temperature, humidity, and unemployment rate), there was a significant increase in suicide (RR=1.40, 95%, CI=1.30-1.51, no. of excess mortalities=331; 95% CI=267-391) during the 4 weeks after Lee's suicide. This increase was more prominent in subgroups with similar characteristics to the celebrity. In particular, the relative risk of suicide during this period was the largest (5.24; 95% CI=3.31-8.29) in young women who used the same suicide method as the celebrity. Moreover, the incidence of these copycat suicides during the same time significantly increased in both genders and in all age subgroups among those who committed suicide using the same method as the celebrity (hanging).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It is difficult to prove conclusively that the real motivation of the suicides was Lee's death.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings from this study imply that, if the media indiscreetly reports the suicide of a celebrity in a suicide-prone society, the copycat effect can be far-reaching and very strong, particularly for vulnerable people.
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, Chung-Ang University College of Medicine, 84 Heukseok-Ro, Dongjak-Gu, Seoul 156-756, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Nam
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ju Ji
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, Chung-Ang University College of Medicine, 84 Heukseok-Ro, Dongjak-Gu, Seoul 156-756, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: wylee@cau.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Weon
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Young Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Statistics, Pukyong National University, Pusan, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Maeng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Seok Noh
authors.affiliation: Center for Suicide Research and Prevention, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Paul S F
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Yip
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005197:Famous Persons; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007100:Imitative Behavior; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008402:Mass Media; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D012306:Risk; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: Celebrity suicide; Completed suicide; Media report