By Kristina Fiore, Staff Writer
MedPage Today
Published: March 07, 2012
Just one ambulatory visit for a mental health disorder may warn that a soldier is at risk for suicide, researchers said.
Those who sought such help were about four times more likely to commit suicide than those who had not made any mental health visits (RR 3.9, 95% CI 3.0 to 4.9), Michelle Canham-Chervak, PhD, of the Injury Prevention Program of the U.S. Army Public Health Command, and colleagues reported online in Injury Prevention.
Patients who were hospitalized with mental illness had more than a 15-fold higher risk of suicide than those not hospitalized (RR 15.5, 95% CI 11.2 to 21.5).
"Soldiers seeking treatment for mental disorders and substance abuse should be a focus for suicide prevention," they wrote.
Soldier suicides have been on the rise since 2004, a trend that has been paralleled by increases in mental illness. In 2008, suicide rates among soldiers surpassed civilian rates that were adjusted for characteristics of a military population, including male gender and younger age (20 per 100,000 versus 18 per 100,000).
Although suicide has long been one of the leading causes of death among those in the military, army operations between 2004 and 2008 -- including the major commitment of troops to Iraq as well as continuing operations in Afghanistan -- likely affected the nature and extent of mental health problems, the researchers said.
To assess the associations between suicide and mental health disorders, Canham-Chervak and colleagues looked at U.S. military data from 2007-2008, during which time 255 soldiers committed suicide.
Factors associated with a higher suicide risk included being male, younger, and Caucasian, as well as having a lower enlisted rank.
