title: Precarious employment and the risk of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Although the effect of occupation or employment status on suicide risk is notable, there are few studies on the effect of precarious employment on suicide. We compared suicidal ideation and suicide attempts in precarious workers and their non-precarious counterparts using a representative sample from South Korea.
  
  
  METHODS
  The 2008 Korean Community Health Survey data were used for this study. Information was obtained on 52,161 participants (41,063 employees with non-precarious work and 11,098 employees with precarious work). The outcome of the logistic regression model was the presence of suicidal thoughts and attempts, and the independent variables were the demographics, socioeconomic status, and health status.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Employees with precarious work were more likely to exhibit suicidal ideation (OR=1.41; 95% CI, 1.28-1.55) and suicide attempts (OR=1.52; 95% CI, 1.02-2.27) than employees with non-precarious work. After controlling for income and education (Model 2) depressive feelings (Model 6), compared with unadjusted model, remained significant but the odds ratio was largely attenuated, indicating a strong association between suicidal risk and socioeconomic and feelings of depression.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Precarious workers had a higher risk of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts than non-precarious workers. Our study suggests that precarious employment is an important risk for suicide.
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational & Environmental Medicine, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Kyoung-Bok
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Min
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational & Environmental Medicine, Inha University Hospital, Incheon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Shin-Goo
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Dentistry, Keimyung University School of Medicine, 2800 Dalgubeoldaero, Dalseo-Gu, Daegu, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Sang Hee
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health and Environment, School of Public Health,Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: yaemin00@snu.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Jin-Young
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Min
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000453:epidemiology; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D004651:Employment; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D009790:Occupations / Q000145:classification / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D059020:Suicidal Ideation; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Employment; Health inequality; Self-destructive behaviors; Socioeconomic disparity