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May 29, 2009
Young Women Veterans at High Risk for Suicide
Research suggests women veterans may be more likely to commit suicide than non-veteran women. Medscape (5/27, Cassels) reported that, according to studies presented at the American Psychiatric Association's annual meeting, "women veterans are two to three times more likely to commit suicide than non-veteran women."
In addition, "female veterans are more likely to be young and use firearms to commit suicide compared with their civilian counterparts, who tend to choose other methods -- commonly drug overdose." For the first study, researchers from Oregon Health and Science University found that "women who have been in the military had a three-fold increased risk for suicide compared with non-military women."
In another study, the team analyzed "data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Violent Death Reporting System" and found that "women veterans are at about 79 percent greater risk of suicide than non-veteran women, and this risk varies markedly by age," with the "peak age for suicide among military women" being "between 18 and 34 years."
Related Link:
- "Young Women Veterans at High Risk for Suicide, Caroline Cassels, MedScape, May 27, 2009.
Posted by admin at May 29, 2009 01:34 PM