The impact of 2003 SARS epidemic on suicide in Taiwan and Hong Kong.

The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent control measures may increase population suicide risk.1 The 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak is amongst previous infectious diseases epidemics most similar to the COVID-19 pandemic, as both were caused by coronaviruses and had a large-scale impact in affected countries.2 We investigated the impact of the SARS outbreak on suicide rates in Taiwan and Hong Kong, two regions most affected by the SARS epidemic,2 to inform concerns about the current pandemic's impact on suicide. Negative binomial regression models were used to estimate the rate ratios (RRs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for suicide rates during the SARS epidemic period (March-June 2003) and post-epidemic period (July-December 2003), relative to that expected based on pre-epidemic trends (January 1993-February 2003). The greater impact of the SARS epidemic on suicide rates was in parallel to higher SARS case and mortality rates and the epidemic's greater economic impacts in Hong Kong than in Taiwan. [Extracted from the article]