(Image: Kobiz Media)
SEOUL, Nov. 17 (Korea Bizwire) — Young men living alone are at a greater risk of committing suicide while their female counterparts are more prone to unhealthy habits like smoking and drinking, a report said Friday.
A research team at Asan Medical Center analyzed the mental and other health patterns of 3,381 people (1,209 men, 2,172 women) aged 25 to 39 who lived alone for reasons other than divorce, separation or the death of a spouse. The subjects were selected from participants in the national health and nutrition survey from 2010 to 2012.
According to the results, males who lived by themselves were 2.7 times more at risk of thinking about suicide than those who lived with their families. The figure is based on responses to a question regarding having thought about wanting to die over the past year.
For women, the risk of suicide was 1.28 times higher. Instead, they were more likely to suffer from worsening health due to bad habits. The number of smokers, for example, was 6.19 times higher. Women drinking at least once a month numbered 2.67 times more. Those who both smoked and drank were 6.88 times higher, the research showed.
“Studies of one-person households until now have mostly been on the elderly population, making those on the younger generation insufficient,” the report, carried in the latest edition of Korean Journal of Family Practice, said. “This research was able to analyze the state of health and mental condition of the younger generation.”
(Yonhap)
