title: Surveillance of suicidal behavior in Kitsap County, Washington: a retrospective study.
abstract: Suicide is a major source of preventable morbidity and mortality in Kitsap County, Washington State. This article describes a study of suicidal behavior to identify risk groups in order to design intervention strategies. A retrospective study was conducted by reviewing the charts of individuals exhibiting suicidal behavior who had presented to the county's only civilian hospital emergency department over a 7 month period. Frequencies were calculated to identify at-risk populations and determine risk factors. One hundred forty-five charts were reviewed. Subjects were mostly female (69%), and ages ranged from 10 to 80 years with 73% between 15 and 44 years. Two-thirds of the subjects were not working. More than half had previously exhibited suicidal behavior and more than 75% had previous mental health encounter(s). Most admissions (67.6%) occurred between 4:00 p.m. and 4:00 a.m. The core public health functions of assessment, policy development, and assurance provided the framework for this community to explore the finding that suicide was a major source of preventable morbidity and mortality. Community-based intervention strategies have been developed in an effort to reach the Healthy People 2000 objective of reducing suicide deaths to no more than 10.5 per 100,000 residents.
authors.affiliation: Seattle University, Community Health Nursing Graduate Program, Washington, USA. NASimmons@nmcsd.med.navy.mil
authors.forename: N A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Simmons
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Peterson
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hale
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013405:Suicide / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014861:Washington