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Background: The purpose of this study was to examine socioeconomic factors, the changes in suicide trends by sex, age and method in the years 1994 to 2006 in Kaohsiung City.Methods: Data were obtained from the Kaohsiung City Bureau of Health.Pearsons correlation analyses were conducted to link age-standardized suicide mortality rates and a series of socioeconomic factors including unemployment rates, social mobility rates, divorce rates, labour force participation rates, and poverty rates.Mortality data files of suicide and undetermined deaths for the years 1994-2006 were obtained for analyses.Age-, sex-and method-specific suicide rates were calculated by seven age groups (0-14, 15-24, 25-44, 45-64, 65-74, 75-84 and ≧ 85 years old) and five suicide methods (solids/liquids poisoning, other gases poisoning, hanging, jumping, and others).Results: Pearsons correlation analysis showed that with the exception of the female labour force participation rate, all of the socioeconomic factors examined had a significant (P<0.05) association with suicide death rates; the associations showed a strong gender difference.Both sexes experienced upward trends from 1994 to 1999, and then an upward trend since 2000.People aged 85 years and above had the highest suicide rates throughout the study periods.However, females aged 25-34 years and males aged 35-54 years experienced the steepest increasing trends.As to suicide methods, an annual increase, since 1994, of people jumping from heights to commit suicide, and a marked increase, since 1999, of people completing suicide by poisoning with other gases (mainly charcoal-burning) were observed.Conclusion: Suicide by measure of charcoal-burning and jumping from heights has become a serious public health problem in Kaohsiung City.Preventive measures to curb these increasing trends are urgently needed.