Washington, DC (December 18, 2006) – New research on violent deaths such as homicide and suicide in North Carolina can help identify prevention strategies to save lives, a coalition of health and welfare, violence and suicide prevention, and law enforcement advocates said today. The groups hailed the study along with several others drawn on data from the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) published in the journal Injury Prevention.
“The information we can learn from NVDRS is invaluable when it comes to our ability to address and prevent violent deaths,” said Neal D. Kohatsu, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.C.P.M., president of the American College of Preventive Medicine, a member of the coalition. “This system effectively links existing data to create a critical public health tool to learn more about, and prevent, homicides and suicides.”
Among the findings of the North Carolina study:
- Suicide — Suicides were most highly concentrated among whites and most often occurred at home in North Carolina. Less than a third left a note. More than half of completed suicides were reported by a friend or family member as having been in a depressed mood immediately prior to death.
- Suicide and Gender — Females who died by suicide in the state were more likely than males to have a medical diagnosis of depression and females were also more likely than males to have a history of suicide attempts.
- Suicide and Age — Women are statistically most likely to complete suicide between the ages of 45 and 54, while males are more likely to complete suicide between the ages of 35 and 44, and then after the age of 75.
- Homicide by Race — Further, the homicide rate for African American women (5.2/100,000) was more than twice that of white women (2.4/100,000) in the state, and the homicide rate for African American men (27.7/100,000) was almost five times the rate for white men (5.6/100,000).
- Homicide by Perpetrator — In cases where the perpetrator was known, men were more likely than women to be killed by strangers. Women were about seven times more likely than men to be killed by a spouse, ex-spouse, lover or former lover. Intimate partner violence was the leading cause of female homicides, and the majority of such incidents occurred in the women’s homes. Other types of argument or conflict were the leading cause of male homicides.
- Female Violent Deaths — White women had a higher rate of suicide, and black women a higher rate of homicide.
The Injury Prevention studies drew on data from NVDRS, a database constructed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. To date, 17 states in the U.S., including North Carolina have begun tracking details of violent deaths via NVDRS. Sixteen additional states and territories have expressed an interest in participating in NVDRS. Lack of funding has held up full implementation of the database in all 50 states, which is estimated to cost $20 million per year to maintain.
NVDRS currently includes identifying characteristics about victims and perpetrators of violent deaths, their relationship, plus information about location, weapons, presence of alcohol or drugs, and other factors. There are approximately 50,000 violent deaths each year in the United States.
The benefits of NVDRS data for states are already evident, even though the program is still in its early stages. NVDRS states are using the data to identify prevention opportunities, revitalize the strategic planning process, and forge partnerships for prevention initiatives. For example, the data strongly suggests that North Carolina should devote more resources to suicide prevention and to improving the availability of and access to mental health services such as suicide prevention counseling.
For a copy of the full text of the Injury Prevention supplement, visit http://ip.bmj.com/
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