Demographic Analysis of Suicide Among U.S. Navy Personnel

摘要

This study examined the extent to which suicide in U.S. Navy populations differedrelative to comparable civilian populations and addressed the following research questions: (1) Are Navy active duty personnel at higher risk for completed suicide than their employed civilian counterparts. (2) Relative to employed civilians, what are the highest risk demographic groups. and (3) What are the trends in rates over time and space (e.g., clustering effects) and how do they compare with civilian trends. Age, sex, race, and employment adjusted rates were calculated for Sailors committing suicide between 1990 and 1996 and compared with adjusted rates for civilians calculated from national mortality records. Cluster analyses were conducted on annual rates from 1983 through 1995 to examine differences between comparison groups across time and location. Results showed fewer than expected suicides for Caucasian and African American males and a somewhat higher than expected suicide rate among other ethnic group males and among Caucasian women. The suicide rate appears to be increasing in recent years, with some evidence toward a clustering effect in time and space.