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U.S. Suicide Rates On The Rise, Especially Among Middle-Aged Women

Posted on: Tuesday, 21 October 2008, 14:28 CDT

Researchers reported Tuesday that suicide rates appear to be increasing, with middle-aged white women becoming a rising factor.

The overall suicide rate rose 0.7 percent between 1999 and 2005, researchers said.

They noticed a disturbing increase, and that the pattern had changed although the reasons behind the change are not clear.

The rate for white men aged 40 to 64 rose 2.7 percent and for middle-aged women 3.9 percent, the team at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore reported in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

"The biggest increase that we have seen between 1999 and 2005 was the increase in poisoning suicide in women -- that went up by 57 percent," said Susan Baker, a professor in injury prevention with a special expertise in suicide.

Baker, Guoqing Hu and colleagues said they analyzed publicly available death certificate data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"The results underscore a change in the epidemiology of suicide, with middle-aged whites emerging as a new high-risk group," Baker said in a statement.

"Historically, suicide-prevention programs have focused on groups considered to be at highest risk -- teens and young adults of both genders as well as elderly white men. This research tells us we need to refocus our resources to develop prevention programs for men and women in their middle years."

Baker added that these represent huge leaps in changes resulting in a big population change.

"I certainly think we need research to look at the information that we have on people who have committed suicide," she said.

"Are these people living alone, with no major responsibility or others to take care of, or are they people overwhelmed with all of the jobs and responsibilities they have? We need to find out more about the conditions under which these people are living."

Among those who committed suicide, many methods were used – ranging from handguns to prescription drugs.

While firearms remain the most common method, the rate of gun suicides decreased while suicide by hanging or suffocation increased by 6.3 percent among men, and 2.3 percent among women.

In September researchers confirmed an 18 percent spike in youth suicides in the United States in 2004 persisted into 2005 after more than a decade of decreases.

According to the World Health Organization, suicide rates have increased by 60 percent in the last 45 years. Depression is the leading cause of suicide.

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On the Net:

• Johns Hopkins University
• American Journal of Preventive Medicine

Source: redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports

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