BACKGROUND: Suicide is a growing public health issue with serious and lasting consequences on individuals, families, and communities. After steadily declining from 1986 through 1999, national suicide rates have increased steadily from 1999 through 2014.
METHODS: Suicides were identified from the New York State (NYS) Vital Records data from 2012-2014, using ICD-10 codes X60 – X84, Y870, and U03.
RESULTS: There were an average of 1,632 suicides in NYS from 2012-2014, of which approximately 31% occurred in New York City (NYC), and the other 69% occurring in the rest of the state (ROS). The suicide rate per 100,000 among males statewide (13.2) is consistently less than the national rate; however, the overall ROS rate (16.1) is higher than the NYC rate (9.2). Women 65 years old and older in NYC have a higher suicide rate than both ROS and the United States as a whole. Statewide, the rate of suicide among females (3.7) was lower than for males. White non-Hispanics had the highest rate (10.8) of suicides statewide. These findings were consistent for NYC (11.5) and ROS (8.7). In NYS, the leading mechanism was suffocation (35%), followed by firearms (30%). The preferred mechanism for males was firearms, accounting for 36% of male suicides. For females, suffocation and poisoning both accounted for 35% of suicides. There are significant differences in the preferred mechanisms by region among males. In NYC, suffocation accounted for 38% of male suicides, while in ROS, firearms accounted for 44% of male suicides. For females, suffocation accounted for 35% of NYC suicides, and 40% of ROS suicides. Logistic regression was performed to predict risk factors for suicide with five independent demographic variables. Though regional differences are seen, when controlling for gender, age, income level, and race/ethnicity, the differences are no longer significant. When examining mechanisms of suicide, regional differences were seen for firearms (ROS more likely) and falls (NYC more likely) but not for poisoning or suffocation. Of note, poverty level is not significant for predicting suicide by mechanisms when controlling for gender, age, race/ethnicity, and region.
CONCLUSIONS: The increase in suicides both nationally and in NYS underscores the need for further research. In NYS, regional and demographic differences have been observed, all of which need to be considered when developing prevention strategies.