Socioeconomic factors outweigh climate in the regional difference of suicide death rate in Taiwan.

The present study explored both socioeconomic and climatic factors to obtain a more comprehensive view of the asymmetric regional suicide death rate during 1998-2006 in Taiwan. The annual suicide death rate, population and meteorological data from 19 cities/counties in Taiwan were analysed by multiple regression. Five socioeconomic (sex ratio, no spouse, aged, unemployment and low income) and three climatic (temperature, rainfall and sunshine) factors were identified as significant, explaining 59.0% of the variance in the total suicide death rate. 'Without spouse' and 'aged' were associated with the highest risk, while 'low income with financial aids' was strongly protective. The most influential climatic factor was 'temperature,' which was negatively correlated with suicide. 'Sunshine' was positively associated with suicide. The socioeconomic and climatic factors contributed 52.7% and 6.8%, respectively, to the variance of the total suicide death rate. Limitations of the study included the fact that no individual events were considered, the study was of relatively short duration and it was confined to the territory of Taiwan. Socioeconomic factors outweighed climatic factors in explaining regional differences in the suicide death rate in Taiwan. Temperature weighed more than sunshine. 'Thermotherapy' seems more clinically relevant than the popular light therapy, at least in Taiwan.