Suicide Trends Following the Taiwan Earthquake of 1999: Empirical Evidence and Policy Implications

Cause of death data for Taiwanese adults were used to study monthly suicide rates in the study & control counties from January 1995-December 2001. Box & Tiao’s event intervention analysis was used to examine changes in monthly suicide rates before & after the Chi-Chi earthquake. During the past-quake period, October 1999-December 2001, the mean monthly suicide rate in the affected counties was 1.567 per 100,000 compared with 1.297 per 100,000 in the control counties. Mean monthly suicide rate among the high exposure group was 42% higher during the 26 months following the earthquake than the average for the entire observation period. Results indicate the need for strengthened psychiatric services in the year following major disasters. (17 refs, 1 appendix)