Table 2 Characteristics of male veteran and non‐veteran suicide decedents in the National Health Interview Survey‐National Death Index.
| Veteran suicide (n = 197) | Non‐veteran suicide (n = 311) | p Value | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N (%)§ | n (%)§ | |||||
| Age (years) | ||||||
| 18–44 | 45 (22.38) | 230 (69.65) | ||||
| 45–64 | 76 (37.23) | 35 (11.72) | ‡ | |||
| ⩾65 | 76 (40.39) | 46 (18.63) | † | |||
| Race/ethnicity | ||||||
| White | 175 (95.53) | 248 (72.35) | ‡ | |||
| Non‐white | 21 (4.47) | 60 (27.65) | ||||
| Marital status | ||||||
| Married | 139 (72.09) | 155 (50.86) | ||||
| Widowed/divorced/separated | 45 (18.73) | 40 (8.40) | ||||
| Never married | 13 (9.19) | 116 (40.74) | * | |||
| Living arrangements | ||||||
| With others | 152 (75.71) | 258 (88.12) | ||||
| Alone | 45 (24.29) | 53 (11.88) | ||||
| Education (years) | ||||||
| <12 | 52 (12.30) | 91 (26.11) | ||||
| ⩾12 | 145 (87.70) | 217 (73.89) | * | |||
| Employment status | ||||||
| Employed | 96 (52.92) | 214 (68.41) | ||||
| Unemployed | 6 (1.88) | 17 (6.28) | ||||
| Not in labour force | 95 (45.19) | 80 (25.31) | ||||
| Region of residence | ||||||
| Northeast | 26 (12.14) | 52 (11.46) | ||||
| Midwest | 42 (17.92) | 81 (33.14) | ||||
| South | 86 (42.63) | 107 (29.89) | ||||
| West | 43 (27.31) | 71 (25.51) | ||||
| Place of residence | ||||||
| Rural | 62 (43.43) | 90 (76.96) | ||||
| Urban | 135 (56.57) | 221 (23.04) | ||||
| Self‐rated health | ||||||
| Good | 142 (90.92) | 269 (90.08) | ||||
| Poor | 24 (9.08) | 17 (9.92) | ||||
| Body mass index | ||||||
| Underweight (0.0–19.9 kg/m2) | 13 (8.70) | 27 (13.25) | ||||
| Normal weight (20.0–24.9 kg/m2) | 88 (51.77) | 135 (44.41) | ||||
| Overweight (25.0–29.9 kg/m2) | 71 (30.32) | 109 (31.33) | ||||
| Obese (⩾ 30.0 kg/m2) | 22 (9.21) | 27 (11.02) | ||||
| Has at least one chronic non‐psychiatric condition | 115 (68.53) | 137 (50.95) | ||||
| Has at least one psychiatric condition | 7 (3.03) | 16 (1.61) | ||||
| Activity limitations | ||||||
| Not limited | 134 (45.99) | 238 (76.88) | ||||
| Limited | 63 (50.98) | 73 (23.12) | * | |||
| Suicide method | ||||||
| Firearm (ICD‐9 E955.0–E955.4) | 152 (83.51) | 185 (55.11) | † | |||
| Non‐firearm (ICD‐9 E950.0–E953.0 and E955.5–E959.0) | 45 (16.49) | 126 (44.89) | ||||
| Military service era | ||||||
| World War I | 1 (0.23) | — | ||||
| World War II | 88 (47.06) | — | ||||
| Korean conflict | 21 (5.29) | — | ||||
| Vietnam era | 43 (25.77) | — | ||||
| Post‐Vietnam | 14 (7.53) | — | ||||
| Other service | 25 (14.12) | — | ||||
—, not applicable.
ICD‐9, International classification of diseases, ninth revision, clinical modification.
*p<.05; †p<0.01; ‡p<0.001.
§Unweighted N and weighted percentage with bivariate logistic tests.