Changing trends in suicide mortality and firearm involvement among Black young adults in the United States, 1999-2019.

Kaplan MS, Mueller-Williams AC, Goldman-Mellor S, Sakai-Bizmark R. Changing trends in suicide mortality and firearm involvement among Black young adults in the United States, 1999-2019.. Archives of Suicide Research. 2022:1–6.

Abstract

The suicide rate among adolescents and young adults in the United States increased 57% between 2007 and 2018, from 6.8 to 10.7 deaths per 100 000 individuals. Recent research characterized as alarming the increases in overall suicide rates among young Black and other racial/ethnic minority populations. To assess the temporal trends in overall suicide and firearm suicide mortality rates among non-Hispanic Black young adults, we conducted a sex-specific Joinpoint regression analysis to identify changing trends in these rates between 1999 and 2019. Data were obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System. Results showed an 84.5% increase in the firearm suicide rate among young Black men and a 76.9% increase among young Black women between 2013 and 2019. Additional research is needed to investigate potential population-level exposures during or before 2013 that may have influenced suicide and firearm suicide risk.

Last updated on 02/13/2023
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