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Upstate researchers review US suicide data; yield new insights into prevention and health equity

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Upstate researchers review US suicide data; yield new insights into prevention and health equity

SUNY Upstate researchers have published a paper analyzing U.S. suicide data: “Achieving health equity in US suicides: a narrative review and commentary” examines “possible causes and potential solutions [for US suicide deaths], with the overarching goal of reducing suicide death disparities to achieve health equity.” This work yielded new insights into how both firearm access and/or under-treated mental illness disparately impacts suicide risk for different populations, and led the authors to suggest those were two modifiable risk factors that could be addressed by public policy to help with suicide prevention in the U.S.

From left to right; Seth Perry, PhD, Julio Licinio, MD/PhD and Ma-Li Wong, MD/PhD.

SUNY Upstate Associate Professor Seth Perry, PhD led the work, along with Upstate’s Julio Licinio, MD/PhD and Ma-Li Wong, MD/PhD, and colleagues from Johns Hopkins, the University of Maryland, and Flinders University in Australia. Perry explained that the origin of this paper stemmed from a desire to take a deeper look at data from the CDC to better understand what disparities exist in US suicide deaths, and what could be driving those disparities. He says the data presented some surprises during the writing process:

“While we knew going into this work that firearms are used in roughly half of all suicides for any given year, it was surprising to me just how high this number is for some populations. For example, cumulatively from 1999 to 2019, guns were used in 89% of all suicides among 71-85+-year-old rural males, and 78% of all suicides in same-aged metro males. Handgun ownership in particular increases suicide risk for females even more than for males. Overall, the data clearly implicated firearm access as a preventable risk factor for suicide across all demographics, especially for male, rural, and older populations.”

While the data also showed a decrease in overall US suicide in both 2019 and 2020, after a peak in 2018, recent numbers indicate a need for action in prevention efforts. “Select groups including some youth and racial/ethnic populations still experienced increased suicide rates during this more recent time period, including during the early stages of the COVID pandemic,” says Perry. “Those are trends we'd like to better understand and hopefully reverse.”

The conclusions reached by Perry and colleagues after analyzing the data? They say "many of these deaths are likely to be preventable by taking a public health approach that includes:

● Implementing and sustaining evidence-based upstream prevention strategies that start long before someone becomes suicidal

● Enhancing access to effective treatments for depression

● Common-sense lethal means reductions for those most at risk."

As for continuing this line of study, the recent pandemic’s impact could factor into future research. “As the data becomes available, next I'd like to explore and better understand suicide trends and disparities that may develop or increase as a result (or independent) of the COVID-19 pandemic/endemic, even despite what we hope is a continued downward trend in overall US suicide rates since 2018,” says Perry. “From a practical standpoint, my hope is that this data can be useful to health professionals who are working to develop maximally effective and optimally targeted suicide prevention strategies.” You can read the full paper here.

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