Cargando…

Association Between Acute Alcohol Use and Firearm-Involved Suicide in the United States

IMPORTANCE: Firearms are the method of suicide used most often in the US. Acute alcohol use is associated with an increased risk of suicide by firearm. However, the dose-response association between acute alcohol use and the probability of using a firearm as the method of suicide is unknown. OBJECTI...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Lange, Shannon, Jiang, Huan, Kaplan, Mark S., Kim, Kawon Victoria, Rehm, Jürgen
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: American Medical Association 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10061235/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36988957
http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.5248
_version_ 1785017252499685376
author Lange, Shannon
Jiang, Huan
Kaplan, Mark S.
Kim, Kawon Victoria
Rehm, Jürgen
author_facet Lange, Shannon
Jiang, Huan
Kaplan, Mark S.
Kim, Kawon Victoria
Rehm, Jürgen
author_sort Lange, Shannon
collection PubMed
description IMPORTANCE: Firearms are the method of suicide used most often in the US. Acute alcohol use is associated with an increased risk of suicide by firearm. However, the dose-response association between acute alcohol use and the probability of using a firearm as the method of suicide is unknown. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association between the amount of alcohol consumed and the probability of using a firearm as the method of suicide. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This cross-sectional study used mortality data from the US National Violent Death Reporting System on suicide decedents aged 18 years or older with a positive blood alcohol concentration (BAC; ie, ≥0.01 g/dL). Statistical analysis was performed from January 2003 to December 2020. EXPOSURE: Acute alcohol use, ascertained via postmortem toxicologic examination. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Probability of using a firearm as the method of suicide compared with all other methods of suicide. RESULTS: The study included 45 959 male suicide decedents (mean [SD] age, 42.6 [14.8] years) and 12 136 female suicide decedents (mean [SD] age, 44.2 [13.8] years) with a positive BAC; of those, 24 720 male decedents (53.8%) and 3599 female decedents (29.7%) used a firearm as the method of suicide. The probability of using a firearm as the method of suicide when alcohol is consumed was higher for male decedents, with the probability starting at just below 0.50 and increasing to approximately 0.75. In contrast, for female decedents, the probability began at just above 0.30 and increased to approximately 0.55. For both male and female decedents, the dose-response curves were an inverted U shape; as BAC increased, the probability of firearm-involved suicide initially increased and then decreased at very high BACs (approximately 0.40 g/dL for male decedents and approximately 0.30 g/dL for female decedents; these BACs were present among only a small percentage of alcohol-involved suicides: male decedents, 589 [1.3%]; female decedents, 754 [6.2%]). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: This cross-sectional study of suicide decedents who had consumed alcohol prior to their death suggests that, as alcohol consumption increased, the probability of a firearm-involved suicide increased until a certain BAC, at which point the probability started to decrease.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-10061235
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2023
publisher American Medical Association
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-100612352023-03-31 Association Between Acute Alcohol Use and Firearm-Involved Suicide in the United States Lange, Shannon Jiang, Huan Kaplan, Mark S. Kim, Kawon Victoria Rehm, Jürgen JAMA Netw Open Original Investigation IMPORTANCE: Firearms are the method of suicide used most often in the US. Acute alcohol use is associated with an increased risk of suicide by firearm. However, the dose-response association between acute alcohol use and the probability of using a firearm as the method of suicide is unknown. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association between the amount of alcohol consumed and the probability of using a firearm as the method of suicide. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This cross-sectional study used mortality data from the US National Violent Death Reporting System on suicide decedents aged 18 years or older with a positive blood alcohol concentration (BAC; ie, ≥0.01 g/dL). Statistical analysis was performed from January 2003 to December 2020. EXPOSURE: Acute alcohol use, ascertained via postmortem toxicologic examination. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Probability of using a firearm as the method of suicide compared with all other methods of suicide. RESULTS: The study included 45 959 male suicide decedents (mean [SD] age, 42.6 [14.8] years) and 12 136 female suicide decedents (mean [SD] age, 44.2 [13.8] years) with a positive BAC; of those, 24 720 male decedents (53.8%) and 3599 female decedents (29.7%) used a firearm as the method of suicide. The probability of using a firearm as the method of suicide when alcohol is consumed was higher for male decedents, with the probability starting at just below 0.50 and increasing to approximately 0.75. In contrast, for female decedents, the probability began at just above 0.30 and increased to approximately 0.55. For both male and female decedents, the dose-response curves were an inverted U shape; as BAC increased, the probability of firearm-involved suicide initially increased and then decreased at very high BACs (approximately 0.40 g/dL for male decedents and approximately 0.30 g/dL for female decedents; these BACs were present among only a small percentage of alcohol-involved suicides: male decedents, 589 [1.3%]; female decedents, 754 [6.2%]). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: This cross-sectional study of suicide decedents who had consumed alcohol prior to their death suggests that, as alcohol consumption increased, the probability of a firearm-involved suicide increased until a certain BAC, at which point the probability started to decrease. American Medical Association 2023-03-29 /pmc/articles/PMC10061235/ /pubmed/36988957 http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.5248 Text en Copyright 2023 Lange S et al. JAMA Network Open. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the CC-BY License.
spellingShingle Original Investigation
Lange, Shannon
Jiang, Huan
Kaplan, Mark S.
Kim, Kawon Victoria
Rehm, Jürgen
Association Between Acute Alcohol Use and Firearm-Involved Suicide in the United States
title Association Between Acute Alcohol Use and Firearm-Involved Suicide in the United States
title_full Association Between Acute Alcohol Use and Firearm-Involved Suicide in the United States
title_fullStr Association Between Acute Alcohol Use and Firearm-Involved Suicide in the United States
title_full_unstemmed Association Between Acute Alcohol Use and Firearm-Involved Suicide in the United States
title_short Association Between Acute Alcohol Use and Firearm-Involved Suicide in the United States
title_sort association between acute alcohol use and firearm-involved suicide in the united states
topic Original Investigation
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10061235/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36988957
http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.5248
work_keys_str_mv AT langeshannon associationbetweenacutealcoholuseandfirearminvolvedsuicideintheunitedstates
AT jianghuan associationbetweenacutealcoholuseandfirearminvolvedsuicideintheunitedstates
AT kaplanmarks associationbetweenacutealcoholuseandfirearminvolvedsuicideintheunitedstates
AT kimkawonvictoria associationbetweenacutealcoholuseandfirearminvolvedsuicideintheunitedstates
AT rehmjurgen associationbetweenacutealcoholuseandfirearminvolvedsuicideintheunitedstates