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CDC: Gender disparity in suicide rates narrows from 1999 to 2014
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Age-adjusted suicide rates among males were more than three times that for females in 2014; however, females had a greater percent increase in suicide rates which narrowed the gender gap in suicide rates.
“After a period of nearly consistent decline in suicide rates in the United States from 1986 through 1999, suicide rates have increased steadily from 1999 through 2014. While suicide among adolescents and young adults is increasing and among the leading causes of death for those demographic groups, suicide among middle-aged adults is also rising,” Sally C. Curtin, MA, of the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, and colleagues wrote.
Researchers analyzed mortality and population data from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics’ multiple cause-of-death mortality files for 1999 through 2014. Age-adjusted death rates were determined via direct method and the 2000 standard population.
The age-adjusted rate for suicide in the United States increased from 10.5 per 100,000 population in 1999 to 13 per 100,000 population in 2014, indicating a 24% increase.
The average annual percent increase in age-adjusted suicide rate was approximately 1% per year from 1999 through 2006 and 2% per year from 2006 through 2014.
From 1999 through 2014, suicide rates increased among both sexes and across all ages from 10 to 74 years.
In 2014, the age-adjusted suicide rate for males was more than three times that for females (20.7 vs. 5.8).
However, the percent increase in age-adjusted suicide rate was greater for females than males (45% vs. 16% increase) from 1999 through 2014, narrowing the gender gap in suicide rates. The male-to-female suicide rate ratio was lower in 2014 than in 1999 (3.6 vs. 4.5).
Females aged 10 to 14 years and males aged 45 to 64 years had the highest percent increase in suicide rates.
In 2014, firearms were the most common suicide method for males (55.4%), while poisoning was most common among females (34.1%). This indicated a change from 1999, when firearms were the most common suicide method among females (36.9%), slightly more common than poisoning (36%).
For both sexes, approximately one in four suicides in 2014 were due to suffocation, indicating an increase from 1999 when fewer than one in five suicides were due to this method.
Percentages of suicides attributable to firearms and poisoning were lower in 2014 compared with 1999 among males and females. – by Amanda Oldt
Disclosure: Please see the full study for a list of all authors’ relevant financial disclosures.
Reference:
Curtin SC, et al. Increase in Suicide in the United States, 1999–2014. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom. Accessed April 21, 2016.