LAY SUMMARY The Veteran Suicide Mortality Study describes the risk of death by suicide for Canadian Veterans using data linkage at Statistics Canada. The study includes Veterans released with Regular Force or Reserve Force Class C service over the period 1976-2012. Both male and female Veterans had higher risk of suicide if they released at non-officer ranks. For men, the risk of suicide death peaked around four years after release from the military. For women, the risk of suicide death peaked around 20 years after release. This study provides information for the timing of prevention efforts.
Introduction: The risks of suicidality (suicidal ideation or behaviour) are higher in Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) Veterans (former members) than in the Canadian general population (CGP). Suicide prevention is everyone’s responsibility, but it can be difficult for many to see how they can help. This article proposes an evidence-based theoretical framework for discussing suicide prevention. The framework informed the 2017 joint CAF – Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) suicide prevention strategy. Methods: Evidence for the framework was derived from participation in expert panels conducted by the CAF in 2009 and 2016, a review of findings from epidemiological studies of suicidality in CAF Veterans released since 1976, suicide prevention literature reviews conducted at VAC since 2009, and published theories of suicide. Results: Common to all suicide theories is the understanding that suicide causation is multifactorial, complex, and varies individually such that factors interact rather than lie along linear causal chains. Discussion: The proposed framework has three core concepts: a composite well-being framework, the life course view, and opportunities for prevention along the suicide pathway from ideation to behaviour. Evidence indicates that Veterans are influenced onto, along, and off the pathway by variable combinations of mental illness, stressful well-being problems and life events, individual factors including suicidal diathesis vulnerability, barriers to well-being supports, acquired lethal capability, imitation, impulsivity, and access to lethal means. The proposed framework can inform discussions about both whole-community participation in prevention, intervention and postvention activities at the individual and population levels, and the development of hypotheses for the increased risk of suicidality in CAF Veterans.
Introduction: Suicide prevention for Veterans is a public health priority. However, it has been challenging to study suicide in Canadian Veterans post-release from the military. The Veteran Suicide Mortality Study (VSMS) has assembled data on the risk of death by suicide for Canadian Veterans compared to other Canadians. Methods: This was a record linkage study of Canadian cause of death data from Statistics Canada linked with a cohort of Canadian Veterans from pay data of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). The population-based cohort included Veterans released with Regular Force or Reserve Force Class C service for the period 1976–2012. Death by suicide was identified by International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes. Estimates of relative risk for suicide were calculated using standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) with the Canadian general population (CGP) as the reference. Results: Male Veterans had a higher risk of suicide compared to the CGP (SMR = 1.36 [95% CI, 1.30–1.44]). Female Veterans also had a higher risk (SMR = 1.81 [95% CI, 1.40–2.31]). Suicide risk for Veterans was consistently higher than for the CGP over the 37 years of follow-up. Risk for male Veterans was highest for those under 25 years old and decreased with age, but risk for females was higher than the CGP regardless of age. Discussion: The finding of higher risk of death by suicide for both male and female Veterans compared to the CGP informs the action plans of the recently released suicide prevention strategy. Future studies will identify other characteristics of subgroups of Veterans at higher risk of suicide.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.