Table 1

Study characteristics

Eligible studies (listed in alphabetical order)Year of publicationRegion of studyNo of reported celebrity suicidesCharacteristics of suicidesType of celebrityPopulation size (million)*
Chen et al 37 2010Taiwan1Ms Ivi Li, newcomer singer in Taiwan, killed herself by burning charcoal on 13 November 2008 at the age of 24.Foreign or less known entertainer22.9
Cheng et al,15 see also Fu and Yip9 2007Taiwan1Mr Min-Jan Nee, television actor in Taiwan, died by hanging on 2 May 2005, at the age of 59.National entertainment elite22.69
Fu and Yip9 2009South Korea1South Korea's actress Ms. Eun-ju Lee, died by hanging on 22 February 2005, at the age of 25.National entertainment elite48.01
Jonas10 1992Germany32Archival information from German magazines (1968–1980) using search term ‘suicides of prominent persons’, media presence in 5 years before suicide, and suicide published in at least two newspapers.Mixed sample9.09
Martin and Koo12 † 1997Australia1US singer of Nirvana Mr Kurt Cobain, shot himself on 5 April 1994, at the age of 27.Foreign or less known entertainer2.72
Niederkrotenthaler et al 7 2009Austria16‘A celebrity’ if the individual satisfied both conditions of (1) being present in the media before suicide and (2) belonging to the upper 10% of highest amount of suicide reporting in the sample, 1996–2006.Mixed sample8.09
Queinec et al 24 2011France6Celebrity's name appeared at least 100 000 times in pages indexed in French using the Google search engine. Suicides occurred between 1979 and 2006.Mixed sample57.3
Stack13 1987USA38Appeared in New York Times annual indexes in at least 2 of the 5 years before his/her death, 1948–1983.Mixed sample192.80
Tousignant et al 14 2005Canada1Mr Gaetan Girouard, a television reporter in Quebec, Canada, died by hanging on 14 January 1999 at the age of 33.National entertainment elite7.34
Yip et al,16 see also Fu and Yip9 2006Hong Kong1Mr Leslie Cheung, Hong Kong singer and actor, died by jumping from a height on 1 April 2003 at the age of 46.National entertainment elite6.77

  • ↵* Mean population size in the observation period in the investigated region.

  • ↵† This study restricted outcome measurement to the age group of 15–24 years.