[ad_1]
Suicide is unfortunately increasingly prevalent in America, especially in rural areas.
A new study from Ohio State University found that the suicide rate has increased by 41%, from an average of 15 per 100,000 population to 21.2 per 100,000 between 2014 and 2016. The study looked at data National Suicide Surveys from 1999 to 2016 to determine photo-country of the number of suicides in adults.
It also highlights a set of factors, including the lack of insurance and the prevalence of firearms stores, coupled with high suicide rates.
Higher where life is the hardest
"Our findings are daunting, but we hope they will help guide efforts to help struggling Americans, particularly in rural areas where the number of suicides has increased the most and most rapidly," he said. lead researcher Danielle Steelesmith, postdoctoral fellow in Ohio. Wexner Medical Center of the State.
The study found that suicide rates were highest in the least populated counties in the United States and in areas where people have the lowest income and the most limited access to resources . From 2014 to 2016, suicide rates were 17.6 per 100,000 in large metropolitan counties, compared with 22 per 100,000 in rural counties. The team adds that in urban areas, adult suicide rates tend to be higher in counties with more firearms.
Overall, western counties, including Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming, tended to have the highest suicide rates, as did the Appalachian states of Kentucky. , Virginia and West Virginia, as well as the Ozarks, including Arkansas and Missouri. .
"Suicide is so complex, and many factors contribute to this research, but this research helps us understand the negative consequences and some of the potential contributing factors based on geography, which could reinforce efforts to prevent such deaths." said Steelesmith.
The study analyzed 453,577 suicides among adults (aged 25 to 64) from 1996 to 2016. Suicides were more common among men and among 45 to 54 year olds. According to the team, suicide rates among adults increased between 2014 and 2016, despite a national prevention effort launched in 2015, which aimed to reduce suicide rates by 20%. here 2025.
Cynthia Fontanella, co-author of the study and Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health in the State of Ohio, believes that these findings can help guide and strengthen the effectiveness of suicide prevention efforts.
"For example, all communities could benefit from strategies that improve coping and problem-solving skills, strengthen economic support, and identify and support people who are prone to suicide," Fontanella said.
She adds that the link between urban gunsmiths and higher suicide rates suggests that they may be targeted to reduce access to the means used by people to commit suicide. In rural areas, "deprivation" was a factor closely related to suicide rates. Deprivation includes a set of conditions, including underemployment, poverty, and low education.
The team explains that persistent and long-term poverty may be more rooted in rural areas and that economic opportunities are more limited. Steelesmith adds that many rural Americans depend on jobs in agriculture and industries such as coal mining, which are declining. They also suffer from a lack of support services that they can resort to when needed.
"In cities, you have a core of services that is much easier to obtain. You may have better access to employment assistance, food banks and non-profit organizations that could all help reduce the desperation of residents, "said Steelesmith.
High social fragmentation – which takes into account the number of one-person households, the rate of unmarried residents and the impermanence of residents – and low social capital were also particularly pronounced in rural areas of the United States. explains the team. Social capital is a measure of the connection or cohesion of a given society.
Other factors associated with higher suicide rates include high percentages of veterans in a county and low rates of insurance coverage.
Fontanella explains that people living in rural America would particularly benefit from strategies designed to promote social bonds. Community engagement activities giving residents an opportunity to interact and become familiar with the support resources in their area would be a good approach. Steelesmith adds that some states, particularly in the West, have large counties where the lives of residents vary considerably, for example, so solutions must be tailored to each community.
The document "Contextual Factors Associated with County-level Suicide Rates in the United States, 1999 to 2016" was published in the journal JAMA Network open now.
[ad_2]
Source link