STUDY ON STRATEGY OF SUICIDE PREVENTION BY THE C0MMUNITY PARTICIPATION APPROACH IN HIGH SUICIDE RATE REGI0N

由于日本自杀率最高，我们在东北地区的秋田县开始了预防自杀的公共卫生研究。这些研究旨在通过流行病学方法在日本自杀率高的地区进行社区诊断。本研究以秋田县农村60岁以上的老年人为研究对象，对老年人抑郁倾向的患病率和抑郁倾向的危险因素进行了横断面研究。调查60岁及以上老年人抑郁的患病率，并对与抑郁倾向有关的危险因素进行定量评估。秋田县3个乡镇（6683人）抑郁自评量表（SDS）的平均患病率为11.9/&。与采用相同的SDS问卷调查方法在日本其他地区报告的患病率相比，该患病率似乎较高。秋田县的高自杀率被认为反映了老年人中抑郁倾向的高患病率。其次，本研究利用地理信息系统（GIS）可视化了该社区心理健康指标的地理分布。例如，一个社区中抑郁症患者百分比的一公里网格分布在社区地图中表示。这些健康指标的视觉化，让医护专业人员了解社会上备受关注的健康问题的现况，这些有关社会精神健康的科学数据，有助制订以实证为基础的预防自杀公共卫生政策。

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.