2002 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
STUDY ON STRATEGY OF SUICIDE PREVENTION BY THE C0MMUNITY PARTICIPATION APPROACH IN HIGH SUICIDE RATE REGI0N
| Project/Area Number |
13670352
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Public health/Health science
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| Research Institution | AKITA UNIVERSITY |
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Principal Investigator |
MOTOHASHI Yutaka SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, PROFESSOR, 医学部, 教授 (10174351)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
SASAKI Hisanaga SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, ASSOCIATE PROFESOR, 医学部, 助教授 (70205855)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2001 – 2002
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| Keywords | SUICIDE PREVENTION / COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION / DEPRESSION / GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEM / HEALTH PROMOTIONACTIVITY / USEFULNESS |
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| Research Abstract |
We have started the public health researches on suicide prevention in Akita Prefecture, the Tohoku region, because suicide rate was the highest in Japan. These researches were aimed to conduct community diagnosis in high suicide rate area in Japan by the epidemiological approach. A cross-sectional study was conducted to clarify the prevalence rate of depressive tendency and risk factors of depressive tendency among the elderly with 60 years and over in rural towns located of Akita Prefecture. The prevalence of depressive elderly persons aged 60 years and over was investigated and risk factors relating to depressive tendency were quantitatively evaluated. The average of prevalence of depressive elderly persons assessed by self-rating depressive scale (SDS) was 11.9/& in three rural towns of Akita Prefecture (n = 6683 persons). This prevalence seemed to be high as compared to those reported in other Japanese regions by the same method of SDS questionnaire. The high suicide rate in Akita prefecture is thought to reflect high prevalence of depressive tendency in the elderly population.
Next, in our study, Geographical Information System (GIS) was used to visualize the geographical distribution of mental health indicators in the community. For example, the one-kilometer-meshed distribution of percentage of depressive persons in a community was represented in a map of community. Such visualization of health indicators enabled health professionals to understand the present status of the focused health problem of the community.
These scientific data on mental health in the community serves to construct evidence-based public health policy for suicide prevention.
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