Ecological factors associated with suicide mortality among non-Hispanic whites.

ABSTRACT:

Background

In this paper, we examine the ecological factors associated with death rates from suicide in the United States in 1999 and 2017, a period when suicide mortality increased in the United States. We focus on Non-Hispanic Whites, who experienced the largest increase in suicide mortality. We ask whether variation in suicide mortality among commuting zones can be explained by measures of the social and economic environment and access to lethal means used to kill oneself in one's area of residence.

Methods

We use vital statistics data on deaths and Census Bureau population estimates and define area of residence as one of 704 commuting zones. We estimate separate models for men and women at ages 20-64 and 65 and above. We measure economic environment by percent of the wor

SUBMITTER: Graetz N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7469302 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature