Health
U.S. suicide risk going up
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Nov. 10, 2008
The suicide rate in the United States is increasing for the first time in a decade, says a study published online Oct. 21 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. The report will appear in the December print edition.
The increase was seen primarily among whites ages 40 to 64, with women experiencing the largest annual increase, said researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's Center for Injury Research and Policy in Baltimore.
While the overall suicide rate rose 0.7% between 1999 and 2005, it increased 3.9% annually among white women, the researchers said. The rate among white middle-aged men rose 2.7% annually.
Suicide prevention programs traditionally focus on groups considered high risk -- teens, young adults and elderly white men.
Given these data, a refocusing of prevention efforts seems to be in order, the researchers said.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2008/11/10/hlbf1110.htm.
