title: An Examination of Potential Misclassification of Army Suicides: Results from the Army Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers.
abstract: Debate continues about the accuracy of military suicide reporting due to concerns that some suicides may be classified as accidents to minimize stigma and ensure survivor benefits. We systematically reviewed records for 998 active duty Army deaths (510 suicides; 488 accident, homicide, and undetermined deaths; 2005-2009) and, using research criteria, reclassified 8.2% of the nonsuicide cases to definite suicide (1), suicide probable (4), or suicide possible (35). The reclassification rate to definite suicide was only 0.2% (1/488). This low rate suggests that flagrant misclassification of Army deaths is uncommon and surveillance reports likely reflect the "true" population of Army suicides.
authors.affiliation: US Army Public Health Center, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Aberdeen, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Kenneth L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Cox
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Nock
authors.affiliation: Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress, Department of Psychiatry, Uniformed Services University School of Medicine, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Quinn M
authors.initials: QM
authors.lastname: Biggs
authors.affiliation: Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress, Department of Psychiatry, Uniformed Services University School of Medicine, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bornemann
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Lisa J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Colpe
authors.affiliation: Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress, Department of Psychiatry, Uniformed Services University School of Medicine, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Catherine L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Dempsey
authors.affiliation: Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Steven G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Heeringa
authors.affiliation: Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress, Department of Psychiatry, Uniformed Services University School of Medicine, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: James E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: McCarroll
authors.affiliation: Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress, Department of Psychiatry, Uniformed Services University School of Medicine, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Tsz Hin
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schoenbaum
authors.affiliation: Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress, Department of Psychiatry, Uniformed Services University School of Medicine, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Ursano
authors.affiliation: Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress, Department of Psychiatry, Uniformed Services University School of Medicine, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Bailey G
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress, Department of Psychiatry, Uniformed Services University School of Medicine, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Benedek
mesh_terms: D000059:Accidents / Q000145:classification*; D006801:Humans; D008889:Military Personnel; D055500:Resilience, Psychological; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods; D013405:Suicide / Q000145:classification*