A recent cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate trends in the incidence rates and lethality of suicidal acts from 2006 to 2015 among people aged 10 to 74 years of age. The study was based on data collected from May 2, 2018 to January 30, 2019. Nonfatal medically treated suicide attempts were identified from the 2006 to 2015 Nationwide Inpatient Sample and Nationwide Emergency Department Sample databases. Data on completed suicides were identified from the 2006 to 2015 mortality files of the National Vital Statistics System. The incidence rate of suicidal acts was calculated by dividing the total number of suicidal acts by the United States population. Lethality was measured through the case fatality rates (CFRs) of suicidal acts by dividing the number of suicides by the total number of suicidal acts. A total of 1,222,449 suicidal acts were included between 2006 and 2015. Overall, the incidence rates of total suicidal acts increased 10% from 2006 to 2015 (annual percentage change [APC], 0.8%; 95% CI, 0.3%-1.3%), and the CFRs of suicidal acts increased 13% during the 2006 to 2015 period (APC, 2.3%; 95% CI, 1.3%-3.3%). Subgroup analyses found that the highest increases in suicide incidence by all means were females and older adults, age 65 to 74 years old. The highest increase in suicidality by lethal means occurred in people age 20-64 years old. The findings suggest that population-level epidemiological patterns may be important in the development of appropriate and effective suicide prevention strategies.
Reference:
Wang et al. JAMA Psychiatry 2020; Epub aheahd of print. Abstract
For more information: