Author ORCID Identifier
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4584-9337
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Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2018
College/Unit
School of Medicine
Department/Program/Center
Medicine
Abstract
Objective
A paucity of corroborative psychological and psychiatric evidence may be inhibiting detec- tion of drug intoxication suicides in the United States. We evaluated the relative importance of suicide notes and psychiatric history in the classification of suicide by drug intoxication versus firearm (gunshot wound) plus hanging/suffocation—the other two major, but overtly violent methods.
Methods
This observational multilevel (individual/county), multivariable study employed a general- ized linear mixed model (GLMM) to analyze pooled suicides and undetermined intent deaths, as possible suicides, among the population aged 15 years and older in the 17 states participating in the National Violent Death Reporting System throughout 2011–2013. The outcome measure was relative odds of suicide versus undetermined classification, adjusted for demographics, precipitating circumstances, and investigation characteristics.
Results
A suicide note, prior suicide attempt, or affective disorder was documented in less than one- third of suicides and one-quarter of undetermined deaths. The prevalence gaps were larger among drug intoxication cases than gunshot/hanging cases. The latter were more likely than intoxication cases to be classified as suicide versus undetermined manner of death (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 41.14; 95% CI, 34.43–49.15), as were cases documenting a sui- cide note (OR, 33.90; 95% CI, 26.11–44.05), prior suicide attempt (OR, 2.42; 95% CI, 2.11– 2.77), or depression (OR, 1.61; 95% CI, 1.38 to 1.88), or bipolar disorder (OR, 1.41; 95% CI, 1.10–1.81). Stratification by mechanism/cause intensified the association between a note and suicide classification for intoxication cases (OR, 45.43; 95% CI, 31.06–66.58). Prior sui- cide attempt (OR, 2.64; 95% CI, 2.19–3.18) and depression (OR, 1.48; 95% CI, 1.17–1.87) were associated with suicide classification in intoxication but not gunshot/hanging cases.
Conclusions
Without psychological/psychiatric evidence contributing to manner of death classification, suicide by drug intoxication in the US is likely profoundly under-reported. Findings harbor adverse implications for surveillance, etiologic understanding, and prevention of suicides and drug deaths.
Digital Commons Citation
Rockett, Ian RH; Caine, Eric D.; Connery, Hilary S.; D'Onofrio, Gail; Gunnell, David J.; Miller, Ted R.; Nolte, Kurt B.; Kaplan, Mark S.; Kapusta, Nestor D.; Lilly, Christa L.; Nelson, Lewis S.; Putnam, Sandra L.; Stack, Steven; Varnik, Peeter; Webster, Lynne R.; and Jia, Haomiao, "Discerning suicide in drug intoxication deaths: Paucity and primacy of suicide notes and psychiatric history" (2018). Faculty & Staff Scholarship. 1846.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/faculty_publications/1846
Source Citation
Rockett IRH, Caine ED, Connery HS, D’Onofrio G, Gunnell DJ, Miller TR, et al. (2018) Discerning suicide in drug intoxication deaths: Paucity and primacy of suicide notes and psychiatric history. PLoS ONE 13(1): e0190200. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0190200
Included in
Behavioral Neurobiology Commons, Biostatistics Commons, Emergency Medicine Commons, Epidemiology Commons, Nursing Commons, Psychiatry Commons, Psychiatry and Psychology Commons, Substance Abuse and Addiction Commons
Comments
© 2018 Rockett et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.