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Suffocation suicide rates increase

Suicide rates by suffocation increased by 6.7% on average annually for females and 2.2% annually for males during 1994 through 2012, according to data published in the CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Suicide is the second leading cause of death among people aged 10 to 24 years in the United States, and accounted for 5,178 deaths in 2012, according to the report.

Erin M. Sullivan, MPH, of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control at the CDC, and colleagues analyzed mortality data from the National Vital Statistics System for this time period.

The researchers considered sex, age, race/ethnicity, region and mechanism of suicide (ie, firearm, suffocation, and poisoning).

The overall adjusted suicide rates by sex tended to fluctuate, but rates were greater among males compared with females.

Specifically, the overall age-adjusted suicide rates among those aged 10 to 24 years in 1994 were 15.7 per 100,000 person-years among males compared with 2.7 among females, according to data.

The rates were 11.9 per 100,000 person-years among males and 3.2 among females in 2012, according to data.

From 1994 to 2012, suffocation suicide rates appeared to increase among females, and significantly among males aged 10 to 24 years.

“This increased use and highly lethality of suffocation as a suicide method underscores the importance of early prevention strategies to reduce onset of suicidal thoughts in young persons and to identify persons who are contemplating suicide or who are at greater risk for suicide,” the researchers wrote. – by Samantha Costa