October 31, 2007
Suicide and Veterans
From HealthDay via USNews.com:
Dividing veterans into three groups by age -- 18 to 44 years, 45 to 64 years, and 65 or over -- [lead researcher Kara Zivin's] team found that the youngest group was at higher risk of suicide. Veterans aged 18 to 44 committed suicide at a rate of about 95 suicides per every 100,00 person years, versus about 78 per 100,000 person years in the group aged 45 to 64, and 90 per 100,000 for those 65 or older.
That findings are at odds with suicide trends among the general population, where younger depressed people are typically at lower risk than older individuals, the researchers said.
The full study can be found at the American Journal of Public Health.