American journal of preventive medicine
-
Disclosure of suicidal thoughts and behaviors represents an opportunity to intervene before suicide mortality, representing a cornerstone for suicide prevention. Sexual minority (e.g., lesbian/gay, bisexual) people experience sharply elevated suicide risk, yet there is scant research on patterns of disclosure of suicidal thoughts and behaviors before suicide that might uncover missed opportunities for suicide prevention. Thus, authors leveraged postmortem suicide data to evaluate associations among sexual orientation, sex, and disclosure of suicidal thoughts and behaviors in the month preceding death. ⋯ These findings suggest that reducing suicide mortality in sexual minority populations will require considering contexts beyond the healthcare system, including engaging peer networks. Gatekeeper training for suicide prevention may be an especially promising approach for reducing suicide among sexual minority women.
-
Death certificates provide incomplete information on the specific drug categories involved in fatal overdoses. The accuracy of previously developed corrections for this and modifications to them was examined. Uncorrected mortality rates were compared with rates from the preferred correction models. ⋯ Failing to correct for incomplete information on death certificates leads to inaccurate counts of deaths from specific categories of drugs, such as opioids. However, relatively simple corrections are available that substantially improve accuracy.
-
Nationally, suicide ideation prevalence is comparable among White, American Indian/Alaska Native, Black, and Hispanic adults experiencing alcohol use disorder. This study examines whether such comparability extends to the probability of receiving a suicide ideation diagnosis when presenting with alcohol use disorder at emergency departments. The probability of hospitalization following such diagnosis is examined as well. ⋯ Diagnosis of suicide ideation, a key step in emergency department suicide prevention care, occurred significantly less often for patients of color with alcohol use disorder than for White counterparts. American Indians/Alaska Natives, the racial/ethnic group known to have the nation's highest suicide rate, had the lowest probability of being hospitalized after a diagnosis of alcohol use disorder plus suicide ideation.