Citation

Wood DS, Wood BM, Watson A, Sheffield D, Hauter H. Health Soc. Work 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Utah State Hospital, Provo, UT.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Oxford University Press)

DOI

10.1093/hsw/hlz037

PMID

31953537

Abstract

Veteran suicide is a serious public health problem. Some data suggest that veteran suicide risk profiles differ from those of nonveterans. Records for veteran (n = 21,692) and nonveteran (n = 83,430) men who died by suicide were examined from 17 U.S. states using the National Violent Death Reporting System data. Seventeen precipitating factors were examined and combined through meta-analysis of proportions. Many precipitating factors were found to be less frequent for veterans. A smaller number of factors were found to be higher in the veteran population, including physical health problems. A sizable cumulative effect size (1.02) was observed, suggesting that veteran and nonveteran men show meaningful and substantive differences in their risk profiles-differences that should be considered when planning and implementing suicide prevention and intervention efforts. The conspicuous role of physical health problems among veterans who die by suicide is discussed. The article concludes with specific practice recommendations for social workers.

© 2020 National Association of Social Workers.

Language: en

Keywords

National Violent Death Reporting System; physical health; predictors; suicide; veterans