Table 4.
Number ∞ and percentage † of suicides of adults aged 60+ years, by associated circumstances and sex—National Violent Death Reporting System, 17 states, § 2007–2009.
| Male | Female | Total | p-value | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Associated circumstances | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
| Mental Health/Substance Abuse | |||||||
| Current Depressed Mood | 1,879 | 44.5 | 392 | 40.6 | 2,271 | 43.8 | 0.027 |
| Current Mental Health Problem | 1,490 | 35.3 | 561 | 58.1 | 2,051 | 39.5 | < 0.001 |
| Current Mental Health Treatment¶ | 1,077 | 72.3 | 454 | 80.9 | 1,531 | 74.6 | < 0.001 |
| Ever Treated for Mental Health Problem | 1,276 | 30.2 | 511 | 52.9 | 1,787 | 34.4 | < 0.001 |
| Alcohol Problem | 415 | 9.8 | 80 | 8.3 | 495 | 9.5 | 0.140 |
| Other Substance Abuse Problem | 100 | 2.4 | 48 | 5.0 | 148 | 2.9 | < 0.001 |
| Interpersonal | |||||||
| Intimate Partner Problem | 508 | 12.0 | 79 | 8.2 | 587 | 11.3 | < 0.001 |
| Other Relationship Problem (non-intimate) | 230 | 5.4 | 89 | 9.2 | 319 | 6.1 | < 0.001 |
| Suicide of Family Member or Friend within Past Five Years | 44 | 1.0 | 9 | 0.9 | 53 | 1.0 | 0.758 |
| Other death of Family Member or Friend within Past Five Years | 399 | 9.5 | 92 | 9.5 | 491 | 9.5 | 0.944 |
| Perpetrator of Interpersonal Violence within Past Month | 116 | 2.7 | 6 | 0.6 | 122 | 2.4 | < 0.001 |
| Victim of Interpersonal Violence within Past Month | 4 | 0.1 | 1 | 0.1 | 5 | 0.1 | 0.937 |
| Life Stressor | |||||||
| Crisis in Past Two Weeks | 991 | 23.5 | 169 | 17.5 | 1,160 | 22.4 | < 0.001 |
| Physical Health Problem | 2,267 | 53.7 | 417 | 43.2 | 2,684 | 51.7 | < 0.001 |
| Job Problem | 216 | 5.1 | 24 | 2.5 | 240 | 406 | < 0.001 |
| Recent Criminal Legal Problem | 172 | 4.1 | 13 | 1.3 | 185 | 3.6 | < 0.001 |
| Non-criminal Legal Problem | 63 | 1.5 | 10 | 1.0 | 73 | 1.4 | 0.277 |
| Financial Problem | 398 | 9.4 | 83 | 8.6 | 481 | 9.3 | 0.420 |
| Suicide Event | |||||||
| Left a Suicide Note | 1,352 | 30.2 | 407 | 42.1 | 1,759 | 33.9 | < 0.001 |
| Disclosed Intent to Commit Suicide | 1,186 | 28.1 | 250 | 25.9 | 1,436 | 27.7 | 0.166 |
| History of Suicide Attempt(s) | 358 | 8.5 | 237 | 24.5 | 595 | 11.5 | < 0.001 |
∞
N = 5,188 (4,222 males and 966 females). Circumstances were not known for 939 deaths.
†
Percentages might exceed 100% because multiple circumstances might have been coded.
§
Alaska, Colorado, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin and four California counties.
Includes only those with a current mental health problem.