Suicides and self-inflicted injuries are on the increase according to a recently released report by the Arizona Department of Health Services. The report includes suicides and self-inflicted injuries in Arizona over the last decade, based on information in death certificate and hospital discharge databases.
The report found:
In 2017, more Arizonans died of suicide than motor vehicle crashes and homicides, making suicide the leading cause of violent death in Arizona for that year.
The overall suicide rate rose in Arizona from 15.4 suicides per 100,000 deaths in 2006 to 18 suicides per 100,000 deaths in 2017.
In Arizona, as in the US, adjusted suicide rates have been rising, from 15.4 to 18.0 between 2006 and 2017.
In 2017, suicide remained the 8th leading cause of death, claiming the lives of 1,304 Arizona residents, and contributing substantially to premature mortality with a rate of 35205.5 years of potential life lost (YPLL) per 100,000 population, next to unintentional injuries (89,603), malignant neoplasms (82,697), and diseases of the heart (56,504).
In 2017, based on age-adjusted death rate, suicide was the 8th leading cause of death among males (28.1 per 100,000 residents) but ranked 11th among females (8.4 per 100,000 residents).
Firearm, suffocation/ hanging and poisoning by drugs were the most common mechanisms of suicide in Arizona.
In 2017, 60.3 percent of suicides were completed by use of firearms compared to 20.6 percent by means of strangulation and/or hanging.
Arizonans aged 10-14 years had the lowest suicide mortality rates, while residents aged 45-54 years and those between the ages of 55-64 have experienced higher rates of suicide death among all age groups.
White non-Hispanics and American Indians, regardless of gender, have consistently experienced the highest age-adjusted suicide death rates compared to the other racial/ethnic groups in Arizona.
In 2017, American Indians had the highest age adjusted suicide rate (26.2 suicides per 100,000) among racial/ethnic groups, followed by White non-Hispanics (22.1/100,000), while Hispanics recorded the lowest age-adjusted suicide rate (8.5/100,000).
Trends in suicide rates from 2006 to 2017 demonstrate excessive mortality among White males in comparison to all the other groups for most of the period under study.
Suicide mortality rates vary significantly across counties in Arizona. In 2017, La Paz (46.2/100,000), Navajo (43.9/100,000), Gila (37.6/100,000), and Apache (33.0/100,000) Counties recorded the highest suicide death rates in the state, while Santa Cruz residents experienced the lowest suicide rates in the state.
Urban /rural differences are also apparent, as rural residents were three times more likely to die from suicide than residents in urban settings.
Among Arizona youths, residents aged 20-24 bear more of the burden of suicide mortality than those less than 20 years of age.
In 2017, the relative risk of suicide was nearly 28 times greater for Arizonans aged 20-24 years compared to their counterparts aged 10-15 years.
Between 2006 and 2017, there were 3,084 certified veteran suicides.
Since 2006, both the number of veteran suicides per year, and the rate of suicide per 100,000 Arizona veterans have increased.
Veteran suicide rates in Arizona (including both residents and non-residents who committed suicide in Arizona) are elevated when compared with those in the Arizona general population, and with those among Arizona non-veterans.
In 2017, the rate of suicide among Arizona veterans, when compared to the rate among Arizona non-veterans demonstrates a sustained pattern of elevated risk.
In 2017, the rate of suicide among Arizona veterans was 19 percent higher than Arizona non-veterans.
In 2017, there were 8,803 hospital discharges (2,560 hospitalizations and 6,243 emergency room visits) due to self-inflicted injuries.
Self-inflicted injury-related hospital discharges were higher among females than males.
For every self-inflicted injury among males, there were approximately two among females.
Among racial/ethnic groups, White-non Hispanics experienced the highest rates of hospital discharges (165.6/100,000) due to self-inflicted injury.
Poisoning by drugs was the main mechanism of self-inflicted injury in 2017, accounting for 70.2 percent of all self-inflicted injury-related hospital discharges.
Health care cost analysis of self-inflicted injury during the period of 2008-2017 shows the magnitude of the economic burden of self-inflicted injury-related hospital discharges on the Arizona health care system.
In 2017, self-inflicted injury-related hospital discharge costs were estimated at $193 million, a two-fold increase from 2008.