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Review

Suicidality and Death by Suicide Among Middle-Aged Adults in the United States

Kathryn Downey Piscopo
In: The CBHSQ Report. Rockville (MD): Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (US); 2013.
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Review

Suicidality and Death by Suicide Among Middle-Aged Adults in the United States

Kathryn Downey Piscopo.
Free Books & Documents

Excerpt

Background: Suicide is a public health problem. Method: Two federal data sources collect suicide information: the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) and the National Vital Statistics System (NVSS). This issue of The CBHSQ Report uses 2009 to 2014 NSDUH and NVSS data to examine the trends in suicidal thoughts, attempts, and deaths for males and females aged 45 to 64. Results: Middle-aged adults have a significantly lower percentage of suicidal thoughts and attempts compared with the 18 to 25 year olds, which is the age group with the highest percentages of suicidal thoughts and attempts. In addition to relatively low rates of suicidal thoughts and attempts, the trend for middle-aged suicidal thoughts and attempts has remained stable between 2009 and 2014 even though the death rates for suicide from the age group increased from 1999 to 2014. Conclusion: Knowing the differences in risk among the age groups is important for suicide prevention because young adults aged 18 to 25 have the highest rate of suicide attempts, but those aged 45 to 64 are more likely to have fatal suicide attempts.

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References

    1. National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2016, October). Suicide and self-inflicted injury [Web page] Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/suicide.htm
    1. Tavernise, S. (2016, April 22). U.S. suicide rate surges to a 30-year high. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com
    1. Leonard, K. (2016, April 22). Suicide rate triples among girls. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.usnews.com/
    1. Curtin, S. C., Warner, M., & Hedegaard, H. (2016, April). Increase in suicide in the United States, 1999–2014 (NCHS Data Brief No. 241). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db241.htm - PubMed
    1. More information about the NVSS can be found at https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr65/nvsr65_04.pdf

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