Risk Factors Associated With Suicide in Current and Former US Military Personnel
Abstract
IMPORTANCE. Beginning in 2005, the incidence of suicide deaths in the US military began to sharply increase. Unique stressors, such as combat deployments, have been assumed to underlie the increasing incidence. Previous military suicide studies have relied on case series and cross-sectional investigations and have not linked data during service with post-service periods. OBJECTIVE. To prospectively identify and quantify risk factors associated with suicide in current and former US military personnel including demographic, military, mental health, behavioral, and deployment characteristics. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS. Prospective longitudinal study with accrual and assessment of participants in 2001, 2004, and 2007. Questionnaire data were linked with the National Death Index and the Department of Defense Medical Mortality Registry through December 31, 2008. Participants were current and former US military personnel from all service branches, including active and Reserve/National Guard, who were included in the Millennium Cohort Study (N = 151 560). RESULTS. Through the end of 2008, findings were 83 suicides in 707 493 person-years of follow-up (11.73/100 000 person-years [95%CI, 9.21-14.26]). In Cox models adjusted for age and sex, factors significantly associated with increased risk of suicide included male sex, depression, manic-depressive disorder, heavy or binge drinking, and alcohol-related problems. None of the deployment-related factors (combat experience, cumulative days deployed, or number of deployments) were associated with increased suicide risk in any of the models. A nested, matched case-control analysis using 20:1 control participants per case confirmed these findings. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE. In this sample of current and former military personnel observed July 1, 2001-December 31, 2008, suicide risk was independently associated with male sex and mental disorders but not with military-specific variables. These findings may inf
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 07, 2013
- Accession Number
- ADA618147
Entities
People
- Besa Smith
- Charles W. Hoge
- Cynthia A LeardMann
- Edward J. Boyko
- Gary Dean Gackstetter
- Mark Ghamsary
- Michael R. Bell
- Teresa M. Powell
- Tomoko I. Hooper
- Tyler Clain Smith
Organizations
- Naval Health Research Center