Table 1 Suicide in seven study sites: selected characteristics.
| Alaska* | Colorado | Maryland | New Jersey | Oregon† | South Carolina | Virginia | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | Rate‡ | n | Rate | n | Rate | n | Rate | n | Rate | n | Rate | n | Rate | |
| Completed suicides | 153 | 23.3 | 792 | 17.0 | 464 | 8.4 | 575 | 6.7 | 588 | 16.5 | 496 | 12.0 | 779 | 10.5 |
| Gender | ||||||||||||||
| Male | 119 | 35.3 | 606 | 25.9 | 370 | 13.9 | 453 | 10.8 | 478 | 27.0 | 390 | 19.3 | 601 | 16.5 |
| Female | 34 | 10.7 | 186 | 8.1 | 94 | 3.3 | 122 | 2.8 | 110 | 6.1 | 106 | 5.0 | 178 | 4.7 |
| Race | ||||||||||||||
| American Indian | 55 | 52.9 | 6 | 8.3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 6 | 10.3 | 1 | NA | 1 | NA |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 4 | NA§ | 14 | 10.4 | 16 | 6.5 | 14 | NA | 5 | NA | 3 | NA | 13 | 3.9 |
| Black | 5 | NA | 23 | 11.5 | 58 | 3.7 | 51 | 4.0 | 4 | NA | 65 | 5.2 | 89 | 5.9 |
| White | 88 | 18.8 | 749 | 17.7 | 386 | 10.7 | 493 | 7.3 | 572 | 17.3 | 427 | 15.1 | 674 | 12.2 |
| Other | 1 | NA | 0 | NA | 4 | NA | 17 | NA | 0 | NA | 0 | NA | 1 | NA |
| Unknown | 0 | NA | 0 | NA | 0 | NA | 0 | NA | 1 | NA | 0 | NA | 1 | NA |
| Ethnicity | ||||||||||||||
| Hispanic | 5 | NA | 95 | 11.6 | 7 | 2.7 | 40 | 3.2 | 18 | 5.5 | 5 | NA | 12 | 3.0 |
| Age (years) | ||||||||||||||
| 10–19 | 27 | 24.3 | 58 | 8.7 | 26 | 3.3 | 20 | 1.7 | 16 | 3.2 | 18 | 3.1 | 44 | 4.3 |
| 20–29 | 41 | 48.5 | 114 | 17.7 | 72 | 10.5 | 68 | 6.7 | 79 | 16.0 | 67 | 11.5 | 116 | 11.4 |
| 30–49 | 59 | 28.6 | 342 | 23.6 | 174 | 10.0 | 251 | 9.2 | 224 | 21.5 | 215 | 17.9 | 321 | 14.0 |
| 50–64 | 19 | 17.5 | 189 | 24.8 | 103 | 11.0 | 141 | 9.8 | 144 | 23.2 | 102 | 14.4 | 156 | 12.5 |
| 65–74 | 5 | NA | 37 | 14.1 | 41 | 12.6 | 43 | 7.7 | 44 | 19.9 | 47 | 16.8 | 75 | 16.7 |
| 75+ | 2 | NA | 52 | 23.8 | 48 | 16.0 | 51 | 9.0 | 81 | 34.8 | 47 | 20.2 | 67 | 17.2 |
| Unknown | 1 | NA | ||||||||||||
| Mechanism of injury | n | % | n | % | n | % | n | % | n | % | n | % | n | % |
| Firearm | 93 | 60.8 | 401 | 50.6 | 222 | 47.8 | 173 | 30.1 | 330 | 56.1 | 337 | 67.9 | 435 | 55.8 |
| Poisoning | 21 | 13.7 | 186 | 23.5 | 82 | 17.7 | 121 | 21.0 | 112 | 19.0 | 61 | 12.3 | 145 | 18.6 |
| Hanging/suffocation | 34 | 22.2 | 166 | 21.0 | 129 | 27.8 | 206 | 35.8 | 102 | 17.3 | 72 | 14.5 | 147 | 18.9 |
| Jump from a high place | 2 | 1.3 | 8 | 1.0 | 19 | 4.1 | 17 | 3.0 | 13 | 2.2 | 5 | 1.0 | 11 | 1.4 |
| Sharp or blunt object | 1 | 0.7 | 10 | 1.3 | 6 | 1.3 | 23 | 4.0 | 13 | 2.2 | 9 | 1.8 | 17 | 2.2 |
| Other | 2 | 1.3 | 21 | 2.7 | 6 | 1.3 | 35 | 6.1 | 18 | 3.1 | 12 | 2.4 | 24 | 3.1 |
*Data for Maryland, New Jersey, Oregon, South Carolina, and Virginia reflect 2003 violent deaths to the state's resident population. Data from Alaska and Colorado reflect 2004 deaths to the state's resident population.
†Deaths relating to the Death with Dignity Act (physician assisted suicides) are not classified as suicides and are therefore not included in this table.
‡Crude rates per 100 000.
§Unless otherwise indicated, rates are not provided where the number of cases is fewer than 6. For the state of New Jersey, rates are provided only when the number of cases is 20 or more. This practice is consistent with the National Center for Health Statistics' (NCHS) data release policy. According to NCHS standards, rates based on fewer than 20 cases are considered unreliable for analysis purposes.