Suicides, homicides top violent death cause list
From our weekly issue dated April 23, 2008
A new report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides a detailed summary of a full year of data from 16 states, including Oregon, concerning all types of violent deaths collected by the CDC’s National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS).
The report provides information about the circumstances surrounding these violent deaths.
The report shows that the majority of violent deaths were suicides (56.1 percent), followed by homicides and deaths involving legal interventions (29.6 percent), violent deaths of undetermined intent (13.3 percent), and unintentional firearm deaths (0.7 percent).
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Other overall findings include:
*Rates of violent death were highest for persons ages 20 to 24.
*Rates of violent death by suicide were highest for persons 75 to 84 and 45 to 54 (17.0 and 16.9 respectively).
*Mental health problems were the most commonly noted circumstance for
suicide.
*Despite the high prevalence of mental health problems among suicide victims, only a third were known to be receiving treatment at the time of death.
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*Suicides by current and former military personnel comprised 20 percent of
all suicides.
*The home was the most common location of violent death for all manners of death.
*Homicides were precipitated primarily by an argument over something other than money or property or in conjunction with another crime.
*Alcohol intoxication was involved in many violent deaths: Of the victims tested for alcohol (76 percent), nearly 60 percent were above the legal limit of 0.08 BAC at the time of death.
*Relationship problems or intimate partner violence (IPV) were precipitating factors for many forms of violence.
*Nineteen percent of all homicides were precipitated by IPV.
*Fifty-two percent of all female homicides were precipitated by IPV compared with 9 percent of all male homicides.
*Thirty-two percent of all suicides were precipitated by a problem with an intimate partner.
“NVDRS captures information such as treatment status, diagnoses, employment status, and the results of toxicology screening for the presence of alcohol,
antidepressants, and other drugs at the time of death,” said Dr. Mel Kohn, Oregon
state epidemiologist.
“Having these data at our fingertips can provide information that will help us better understand factors associated with violent death, and we can use that information to develop and implement
prevention programs.”
NVDRS data indicate clear variations in risk of death from violence-related
injuries during 2005, and suggests some prevention opportunities to reduce violent deaths. For example:
*Relationship problems or intimate partner conflict were precipitating factors for many forms of violence. Programs designed to enhance social problem-solving and coping skills, and skills dealing with stressful life events have potential to reduce violence.
*Prevention programs and efforts aimed at addressing mental health problems may reduce some of the precipitating factors for violence.
*Programs and efforts to increase education and outreach about warning signs for violence are important for prevention.
States participating in the report besides Oregon are Alaska, Colorado, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina,
Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah, Wisconsin, and Virginia.
