• Ying-Yeh Chen, Chi-Ting Yang, Edward Pinkney, and YipPaul Siu FaiPSFDepartment of Social Work and Social Administration, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong; The Hong Kong Jockey Club Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. Electronic address: sfpyip@hku.hk..
• Taipei City Psychiatric Centre, Taipei City Hospital, Taipei City, Taiwan; Institute of Public Health, School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei City, Taiwan.
• J Formos Med Assoc. 2022 Jun 1; 121 (6): 117411771174-1177.

Background/PurposeThe outbreak of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has led to unprecedented impact on mental health globally. Recent empirical data however, indicated that suicide rates in many countries remained unchanged or even decreased. Existing studies assessed the overall rates and did not stratify by age-subgroups.MethodsWe used an interrupted time-series analysis to model the age-stratified (<25, 25-44, 45-64, ≥65) trends in monthly suicide rates before (January 1st, 2017 to December 31st, 2019) and after (January 1st 2020 to December 31st 2020) the outbreak of COVID-19 in Taiwan.ResultsWe found a slight decrease in overall suicide rates after the outbreak (annual average rates were 16.4 and 15.5 per 100,000 population, respectively, p = 0.05). Age-stratified analysis indicated that suicide rates increased in younger (<25) and decreased in the middle age group (25-64 years). In older age groups (≥65), an immediate rate decrease was observed followed by a sustained upward trend during the onset of the pandemic.ConclusionAlthough an overall decrease in annual suicide rates was found after the outbreak, the age-specific subgroup analysis reveals a more nuanced picture. Stratified analysis is crucial to identify vulnerable subgroups in the midst of the pandemic.Copyright © 2021 Formosan Medical Association. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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