Health Problems and Male Firearm Suicide |
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| Authors: | Katherine Hempstead PhD Tuan Nguyen Richard David‐Rus PhD Bretta Jacquemin MPH |
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| Institution: | 1. Research Assistant Professor, Center for State Health Policy, Rutgers University, , New Brunswick, NJ, USA;2. Graduate Student, Department of Statistics and Biostatistics, Rutgers University, , Piscataway, NJ, USA;3. Researcher, “Francisc I. Rainer” Institute of Anthropology, , Bucharest, Romania;4. Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention Center for Health Statistics, New Jersey Department of Health, , Trenton, NJ, USA |
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| Abstract: | Drawing on constructs of masculinity as it relates to both gun ownership and men's health, we use a rich data set, the New Jersey Violent Death Reporting System as well as hospital discharge data, to analyze 3,413 completed male suicides between the years of 2003 and 2009. We test the hypotheses that the use of firearms is more common when physical health problems are cited as suicide circumstances, and that suicide decedents who use firearms have poorer physical health than those who used other methods. Results show that firearms are disproportionately used in male suicides when physical health is listed as a circumstance. Additionally, among suicide decedents with a hospitalization during the 3 years prior to death, those who used firearms were in poorer health than those who used other methods. These findings have implications for prevention efforts, because restricting access to lethal means is an important aspect of suicide prevention. |
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