Association of Firearm Ownership, Use, Accessibility, and Storage Practices With Suicide Risk Among US Army Soldiers.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

Since 2004, the suicide rate among US Army soldiers has exceeded the rate of death from combat injury. It is critical to establish factors that increase the risk of acting on suicidal thoughts to guide early intervention and suicide prevention.

Objective

To assess whether firearm ownership, use, storage practices, and accessibility are associated with increased risk of suicide.

Design, setting, and participants

In this case-control study, suicide cases (n = 135) were defined as US Army soldiers who died by suicide while on active duty between August 1, 2011, and November 1, 2013. Next-of-kin and Army supervisors of soldiers who died by suicide (n = 168) were compared with propensity-matched controls (n = 137); those soldiers with a suicidal ideation in the

SUBMITTER: Dempsey CL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6563574 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature