Veterans and suicide: A reexamination of the National Death Index-linked National Health Interview Survey

M. Miller, C. Barber, M. Young, D. Azrael, K. Mukamal and E. Lawler

American Journal of Public Health, 2012, vol. 102, issue S1, S154-S159

Abstract: Objectives: We assessed the risk of suicide among veterans compared with nonveterans. Methods: Cox proportional hazards models estimated the relative risk of suicide, by self-reported veteran status, among 500 822 adult male participants in the National Death Index (NDI)-linked National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), a nationally representative cohort study. Results. A total of 482 male veterans died by suicide during 1 837 886 personyears of follow-up (76% by firearm); 835 male nonveterans died by suicide during 4 438 515 person-years of follow-up (62% by firearm). Crude suicide rates for veterans and nonveterans were, respectively, 26.2 and 18.8 per 100 000 person-years. The risk of suicide was not significantly higher among veterans, compared with nonveterans, after adjustment for differences in age, race, and survey year (hazard ratio = 1.11; 95% confidence interval = 0.96, 1.29). Conclusions: Consistent with most studies of suicide risk among veterans of conflicts before Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom, but in contrast to a previous study using the NDI-linked NHIS data, we found that male veterans responding to the NHIS were modestly, but not significantly, at higher risk for suicide compared with male nonveterans.

Date: 2012
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2011.300409_6

DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2011.300409

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