Suicides in the military: 1980-1992

Details

• Personal Author:
  Helmkamp JC
• Description:
  Data on suicides in the military between 1980 and 1992 were reviewed. Data on suicides among active duty military personnel, the military population, and national statistics were obtained from the Worldwide Casualty System, the Department of Defense Manpower Data Center, and the National Center for Health Statistics, respectively. Deaths due to suicide were the third leading cause of mortality among active duty military personnel representing 12% of all deaths. The fewest suicides and the highest suicide rate were seen in the Marine Corps. Those between 17 and 24 years of age accounted for 79% of all of the suicides. More than 95% of the military suicide victims were male and 83% were white. The suicide rate among enlisted victims was approximately twice that seen for officers. The suicide rate among males increased 16% over the 13 year study period with the highest annual rate seen in 1988. The predominant method of suicide overall was firearms, followed by hanging and carbon-monoxide (630080). The risk of suicide among active duty males was about half that seen in males in the general population while the risk for active duty females was slightly lower than that for females in the general population. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Age Factors Epidemiology Mortality Occupational Health Race Factors Safety Sex Characteristics
• Keywords:
  Age-factors Military-personnel Mortality-data Mortality-rates NIOSH-Author Racial-factors Sex-factors
• ISSN:
  0026-4075
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSR - Division of Safety Research
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  45-50
• Volume:
  160
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00226517
• Citation:
  Mil Med 1995 Feb; 160(2):45-50
• CAS Registry Number:
  Carbon monoxide (CAS RN 630-08-0)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1995
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Military Medicine
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:a9e786e66c2534744f24cffa43048a5bcaa73b71c40523a2b3797ff16c0927c2dd0ca83d684b96977048881e251c5b4f35040f97e4dff9ba6944085e7cea3283
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/205648/cdc_205648_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 741.27 KB ]