By the Numbers: 4 May 2020
45%
The percentage of roughly 30,000 primary care patients in the Veterans Health Administration system who died by suicide between 2000-2014 who "had no antecedent mental health or substance use diagnosis," according to an article recently published online in the Journal of General Internal Medicine -- Characteristics and Injury Mechanisms of Veteran Primary Care Suicide Decedents with and without Diagnosed Mental Illness.
Decedents without such a diagnosis were older (68 vs. 57 years, p < 0.001), and more likely to be male (98.3% vs. 95.8%, p < 0.001), non-Hispanic White (90.6% vs. 87.9%, p < 0.001), married/partnered (50.4% vs. 36.6%, p < 0.001), and without military service-connected disability benefits (72.6% vs. 56.9%, p < 0.001). They were also more likely to die from firearm injury (78.9% vs. 60.7%, p < 0.001).
45%
The percentage of roughly 30,000 primary care patients in the Veterans Health Administration system who died by suicide between 2000-2014 who "had no antecedent mental health or substance use diagnosis," according to an article recently published online in the Journal of General Internal Medicine -- Characteristics and Injury Mechanisms of Veteran Primary Care Suicide Decedents with and without Diagnosed Mental Illness.
Decedents without such a diagnosis were older (68 vs. 57 years, p < 0.001), and more likely to be male (98.3% vs. 95.8%, p < 0.001), non-Hispanic White (90.6% vs. 87.9%, p < 0.001), married/partnered (50.4% vs. 36.6%, p < 0.001), and without military service-connected disability benefits (72.6% vs. 56.9%, p < 0.001). They were also more likely to die from firearm injury (78.9% vs. 60.7%, p < 0.001).