Risk factors associated with suicide in current and former US military personnel.
OBJECTIVE
Beginning in 2005, the incidence of suicide deaths in the US military began to sharply increase. Unique stressors, such as combat deployments, have been assumed to underlie the increasing incidence. Previous military suicide studies, however, have relied on case series and cross-sectional investigations and have not linked data during service with postservice periods.


OBJECTIVE
To prospectively identify and quantify risk factors associated with suicide in current and former US military personnel including demographic, military, mental health, behavioral, and deployment characteristics.


METHODS
Prospective longitudinal study with accrual and assessment of participants in 2001, 2004, and 2007. Questionnaire data were linked with the National Death Index and the Department of Defense Medical Mortality Registry through December 31, 2008. Participants were current and former US military personnel from all service branches, including active and Reserve/National Guard, who were included in the Millennium Cohort Study (N = 151,560).


METHODS
Death by suicide captured by the National Death Index and the Department of Defense Medical Mortality Registry.


RESULTS
Through the end of 2008, findings were 83 suicides in 707,493 person-years of follow-up (11.73/100,000 person-years [95% CI, 9.21-14.26]). In Cox models adjusted for age and sex, factors significantly associated with increased risk of suicide included male sex, depression, manic-depressive disorder, heavy or binge drinking, and alcohol-related problems. None of the deployment-related factors (combat experience, cumulative days deployed, or number of deployments) were associated with increased suicide risk in any of the models. In multivariable Cox models, individuals with increased risk for suicide were men (hazard ratio [HR], 2.14; 95% CI, 1.17-3.92; P = .01; attributable risk [AR], 3.5 cases/10,000 persons), and those with depression (HR, 1.96; 95% CI, 1.05-3.64; P = .03; AR, 6.9/10,000 persons), manic-depressive disorder (HR, 4.35; 95% CI, 1.56-12.09; P = .005; AR, 35.6/10,000 persons), or alcohol-related problems (HR, 2.56; 95% CI, 1.56-4.18; P <.001; AR, 7.7/10,000 persons). A nested, matched case-control analysis using 20:1 control participants per case confirmed these findings.


CONCLUSIONS
In this sample of current and former military personnel observed July 1, 2001-December 31, 2008, suicide risk was independently associated with male sex and mental disorders but not with military-specific variables. These findings may inform approaches to mitigating suicide risk in this population.
Deployment Health Research Department, Naval Health Research Center, San Diego, California 92106-3521, USA. cynthia.leardmann@med.navy.mil
Cynthia A
CA
LeardMann
Teresa M
TM
Powell
Tyler C
TC
Smith
Michael R
MR
Bell
Besa
B
Smith
Edward J
EJ
Boyko
Tomoko I
TI
Hooper
Gary D
GD
Gackstetter
Mark
M
Ghamsary
Charles W
CW
Hoge
D000328:Adult; D055826:Afghan Campaign 2001-; D000368:Aged; D002423:Cause of Death; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D054542:Iraq War, 2003-2011; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012042:Registries; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000453:epidemiology; D013405:Suicide / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult