Study characteristics
Eligible studies (listed in alphabetical order) | Year of publication | Region of study | No of reported celebrity suicides | Characteristics of suicides | Type of celebrity | Population size (million)* |
Chen et al 37 | 2010 | Taiwan | 1 | Ms Ivi Li, newcomer singer in Taiwan, killed herself by burning charcoal on 13 November 2008 at the age of 24. | Foreign or less known entertainer | 22.9 |
Cheng et al,15 see also Fu and Yip9 | 2007 | Taiwan | 1 | Mr Min-Jan Nee, television actor in Taiwan, died by hanging on 2 May 2005, at the age of 59. | National entertainment elite | 22.69 |
Fu and Yip9 | 2009 | South Korea | 1 | South Korea's actress Ms. Eun-ju Lee, died by hanging on 22 February 2005, at the age of 25. | National entertainment elite | 48.01 |
Jonas10 | 1992 | Germany | 32 | Archival 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 sample | 9.09 |
Martin and Koo12 † | 1997 | Australia | 1 | US singer of Nirvana Mr Kurt Cobain, shot himself on 5 April 1994, at the age of 27. | Foreign or less known entertainer | 2.72 |
Niederkrotenthaler et al 7 | 2009 | Austria | 16 | ‘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 sample | 8.09 |
Queinec et al 24 | 2011 | France | 6 | Celebrity'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 sample | 57.3 |
Stack13 | 1987 | USA | 38 | Appeared in New York Times annual indexes in at least 2 of the 5 years before his/her death, 1948–1983. | Mixed sample | 192.80 |
Tousignant et al 14 | 2005 | Canada | 1 | Mr Gaetan Girouard, a television reporter in Quebec, Canada, died by hanging on 14 January 1999 at the age of 33. | National entertainment elite | 7.34 |
Yip et al,16 see also Fu and Yip9 | 2006 | Hong Kong | 1 | Mr Leslie Cheung, Hong Kong singer and actor, died by jumping from a height on 1 April 2003 at the age of 46. | National entertainment elite | 6.77 |