The Werther effect following the suicides of three korean celebrities (2017-2018): an ecological time-series study.

BACKGROUND: The suicide rate in Korea was the highest among the member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development(OECD) for 2013-2016 and 2018-2020. In korea, suicide was the leading cause of death among individuals aged 10-39, and the second leading cause of death for aged 40-59. Thus, this study aimed to examine the Werther effect of the suicides of three Korean idol singers (Jonghyun: December 18, 2017, Sulli: October 14, 2019, and Hara Gu: November 24, 2019). METHODS: The study conducted Poisson regression and used the cause-of-death statistics microdata from 2016 to 2020 provided by Statistics Korea. The case periods ranged from the day of the suicide of each celebrity to 10 weeks after. The control periods were all weeks from 2016 to 2020, excluding the case periods. RESULTS: The suicide rates in Korea significantly increased by 1.21, 1.30, and 1.28 times after the deaths of Jonghyun, Sulli, and Hara Gu, respectively. The Werther effect was more evident in women than men. Suicide rate among individuals aged 10-29 years was greater than those for other age groups. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirmed that the rate of copycat suicides increased after three celebrity singers in Korea died by suicide. Nevertheless, the rate of suicide after the suicide of the three celebrity singers was lower than those in previous studies in Korea.

Influence of COVID-19-Related Interventions on the Number of Inpatients with Acute Viral Respiratory Infections: Using Interrupted Time Series Analysis.

After the first COVID-19 patient was diagnosed, non-pharmaceutical interventions such as social distancing and behavior change campaigns were implemented in South Korea. The social distancing policy restricted unnecessary gatherings and activities to prevent local transmission. This study aims to evaluate the effect of social distancing, a strategy for COVID-19 prevention, on the number of acute respiratory infection inpatients. This study used the number of hospitalized patients with acute respiratory infection from the Infectious Disease Portal of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) between the first week of January 2018, to the last week of January 2021. Intervention 1t represents the first patient occurrence of COVID-19, Intervention 2t represents the relaxing of the social distancing policy. We used acute respiratory infection statistics from Korea and segmented regression analysis was used. The analysis showed that the trend of the number of acute respiratory infection inpatients decreased after the implementation of the first patient incidence of COVID-19 due to prevention activities. After the relaxing of the social distancing policy, the number of inpatients with acute respiratory infections significantly increased. This study verified the effect of social distancing on the reduction in hospital admissions for acute respiratory viral infections.

Is Avoidable Hospitalization Experienced Prior to Infection Associated With COVID-19-Related Deaths?

Objectives: This study aimed to determine the effect of the presence or absence of avoidable hospitalization before acquiring coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on COVID-19-related deaths. Methods: This study used the total NHIS-COVID-19 dataset comprising domestic COVID-19 patients, provided by the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) in South Korea. We conducted logistic regression and double robust estimation (DRE) to confirm the effect of avoidable hospitalization on COVID-19-related deaths. Results: Logistic regression analysis confirmed that the odds ratio (OR) of death due to COVID-19 was high in the group that experienced avoidable hospitalization. DRE analysis showed a higher OR of death due to COVID-19 in the group that experienced avoidable hospitalization compared to the group that did not experience avoidable hospitalization, except in the subgroup aged ≤69 years. Conclusion: The effect of avoidable hospitalization on COVID-19-related deaths was confirmed. Therefore, continued health care, preventive medicine, and public health management are essential for reducing avoidable hospitalizations despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Clinicians need to be informed about the importance of continuous disease management.

Effect of COVID-19-Related Interventions on the Incidence of Infectious Eye Diseases: Analysis of Nationwide Infectious Disease Incidence Monitoring Data.

Objective: Social distancing has been confirmed to reduce the incidence of not only the COVID-19, but also the incidence of other diseases. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effect of social distancing policies on the incidence of infectious eye diseases by monitoring their nationwide incidence data in all age groups. Methods: In this study, to analyse the impact of COVID-19 policy on IEDSC, the time periods were divided into two interventions. The first intervention was the first COVID-19 patient report in Korea on 19 January 2020. The second intervention was relaxation of the social distancing policy on 6 May 2020. Segmented regression analysis of the interrupted time series was used to assess COVID-19 policies on the IEDSC. Results: After the first incidence of a COVID-19 patient, IEDSCs decreased significantly in all age groups, while the relaxation of the social distancing policy increased IEDSCs significantly, mostly in all groups. Conclusion: In the post-COVID-19 era, we hope that national-level interventions such as reducing air pollution and employing precautionary measures will significantly reduce the financial burden of developing infectious ophthalmic diseases.

Factors Associated With the Differences Between Self-Report Smoking and Urinary Cotinine Criteria.

During self-reporting, respondents underreport their smoking status for various reasons. We aimed to evaluate the difference between smoking status self-reporting and urinary cotinine tests in Korea respondents. Logistic regression analyses were performed to identify factors associated with the differences between self-reporting and urinary cotinine criteria. The dependent variable was the underreporting of smoking status; independent variables were sociodemographic, health status, and secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure. Total underreporting was 3.6% when Cot ≥164 and 4.0% when Cot-variable (classified) criteria underreported. Positive associations were found between smoking and age, education, drinking, and SHS. Underreporting in the nonsmoker group (odds ratio [OR] = 2.336; confidence interval [CI] = 1.717-3.179) was significantly associated with SHS, but this difference was nonsignificant in the ex-smoker group (OR = 1.184; CI = 0.879-1.638). Underreporting was 3.6% to 4.0%, and C-statistics was about 0.7, indicating that outcomes could be classified. SHS in nonsmokers was positively associated with underreporting; however, only the nonsmoker group had positive associations, demonstrating unintentional underreporting due to SHS.