County-Level Trends in Suicide Rates in the U.S., 2005-2015.

ABSTRACT: INTRODUCTION:Understanding the geographic patterns of suicide can help inform targeted prevention efforts. Although state-level variation in age-adjusted suicide rates has been well documented, trends at the county-level have been largely unexplored. This study uses small area estimation to produce stable county-level estimates of suicide rates to examine geographic, temporal, and urban-rural patterns in suicide from 2005 to 2015. METHODS:Using National Vital Statistics Underlying Cause of Death Files (2005-2015), hierarchical Bayesian models were used to estimate suicide rates for 3,140 counties. Model-based suicide rate estimates were mapped to explore geographic and temporal patterns and examine urban-rural differences. Analyses were conducted in 2016-2017. RESULTS:Posterior predicted m

SUBMITTER: Rossen LM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6038117 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature