Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Study says Nevada ranks No. 2 in nation for suicides

CARSON CITY — Nevada has the second highest suicide rate in the nation, and residents are more likely to die from a self-inflicted act than at the hands of another, a new study reports.

The study, released by the state Health Division, said there’s long been a misconception that suicide rates in Nevada are heavily correlated to tourists who kill themselves here.

But the study, called “Injury in Nevada,” said suicide victims are two times more likely to be Nevada residents than non-residents. Men are four times more likely to take their own lives than women.

The report is a joint effort by the health division, UNLV’s School of Community Health Sciences, the Southern Nevada Health District, UNLV’s Transportation Research Center, the Nevada Institute for Children’s Research and Policy, and UNLV’s Center for Health Information and Analysis.

It says that in 2006, Nevada’s suicide rate was 19.2 cases per 100,000 residents, which was nearly double the nation’s average of 10.9 suicides per 100,000 people.

Nye County had a particularly high rate of 34.3 suicides per 100,000 residents, and Clark County had 17.9 suicides per 100,000 residents.

Guns were used in 60 percent of the suicides in Nevada.

The study says suicide rates for men are highest among those 75 years and older, and rates for women are highest among those 45-54 years old.

“One explanation for the high rates of suicide among the elderly is the increased suicide risk of being diagnosed with a chronic debilitating or fatal illness,” the study says.

Another section of the report says Nevada exceeds the national rate in deaths by the unintentional overdose of drugs, either legal or illegal. Nevada’s rate is 14 deaths per 100,000 residents, compared to the national average of less than 10 per 100,000 people.

The study says a recent survey of national emergency department visits “confirmed that legal drugs are as frequently the cause of unintentional poisoning as illegal drugs.” The trend in the abuse of prescription medication has caused the national rate of unintended drug abuse deaths to rise dramatically, the report said.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration received 19,551 reports of deaths linked to prescription and over-the-counter drugs last year, a 14 percent increase over 2008.

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