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Comment
. 2021 Nov:305:114173.
doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2021.114173. Epub 2021 Aug 21.

Suicide by gender and 10-year age groups during the COVID-19 pandemic vs previous five years in Japan: An analysis of national vital statistics

Akifumi Eguchi  1 , Shuhei Nomura  2 , Stuart Gilmour  3 , Nahoko Harada  4 , Haruka Sakamoto  5 , Peter Ueda  6 , Daisuke Yoneoka  3 , Yuta Tanoue  7 , Takayuki Kawashima  8 , Takehiko I Hayashi  9 , Yuzo Arima  10 , Motoi Suzuki  10 , Masahiro Hashizume  11
Affiliations
Comment

Suicide by gender and 10-year age groups during the COVID-19 pandemic vs previous five years in Japan: An analysis of national vital statistics

Akifumi Eguchi et al. Psychiatry Res. 2021 Nov.

Abstract

Using daily vital statistics data from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, we provide the first weekly and age-group-specific estimates of the additional suicide burden during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan by gender, from January through November 2020. Our results indicate that compared with the previous five years, suicide cases in 2020 in Japan have increased from late July to November for women in all age groups and for men in the 20-29 and 80+ years age group. Targeted interventions based on age and gender might be more effective in reducing suicide during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan.

Keywords: COVID-19; Japan; Suicide.

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Conflict of interest statement

None.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig. 1
Weekly observed and 95% upper and lower bound of the expected weekly number of deaths from suicide in Japan from January 2017 through November 2020 by age groups for women. Green: upper bound; Black: point estimate; Red: lower bound; cross symbols indicate weeks with the observed exceeding or being below the 95% upper or lower bounds.
Fig 2
Fig. 2
Weekly observed and 95% upper and lower bound of the expected weekly number of deaths from suicide in Japan from January 2017 through November 2020 by age groups for men. Green: upper bound; Black: point estimate; Red: lower bound; cross symbols indicate weeks with the observed exceeding or being below the 95% upper or lower bounds.
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