Suicides Among American Indian/Alaska Natives — National Violent Death Reporting System, 18 States, 2003–2014

Details

• Journal Article:
  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• Personal Author:
  Leavitt, Rachel A. ; Ertl, Allison M. ; Sheats, Kameron J. ; Petrosky, Emiko ; Ivey-Stephenson, Asha ; Fowler, Katherine A.
• Description:
  Suicide disproportionately affects American Indians/Alaska Natives (AI/AN). The suicide rate among AI/AN has been increasing since 2003 (1), and in 2015, AI/AN suicide rates in the 18 states participating in the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) were 21.5 per 100,000, more than 3.5 times higher than those among racial/ethnic groups with the lowest rates.* To study completed suicides across all ages of AI/AN, NVDRS data collected from 2003 to 2014 were analyzed by comparing differences in suicide characteristics and circumstances between AI/AN and white decedents. Group differences were assessed using chi-squared tests and logistic regression. Across multiple demographics, incident characteristics, and circumstances, AI/AN decedents were significantly different from white decedents. More than one third (35.7%) of AI/AN decedents were aged 10-24 years (versus 11.1% of whites). Compared with whites, AI/AN decedents had 6.6 times the odds of living in a nonmetropolitan area, 2.1 times the odds of a positive alcohol toxicology result, and 2.4 times the odds of a suicide of a friend or family member affecting their death. Suicide Prevention efforts should incorporate evidence-based, culturally relevant strategies at individual, interpersonal, and community levels (2) and need to account for the heterogeneity among AI/AN communities (3,4).
• Subjects:
  Adolescent Adult Aged Alaska Natives Child Databases, Factual Female Humans Indians, North American Male Middle Aged Suicide Young Adult

  More +
• Source:
  MMWR Morbidity Mortal Weekly Rep. 67(8):237-242.
• Series:
  Weekly Report: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• DOI:
  http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6708a1
• ISSN:
  0149-2195 (print) ; 1545-861X (digital)
• Pubmed ID:
  29494572
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC5861703
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  United States
• Pages in Document:
  6 pdf pages
• Volume:
  67
• Issue:
  8
• Collection(s):
  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:ce330f85dd36eef73f410c3d819b42fdcce6e85fbe7f9e991185b5b3fd5fb2344c4fe51331b23b11c4f2aadd4195ab00b473bf7a634bbcb95b1e8a9550771140
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/55456/cdc_55456_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 190.85 KB ]