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Thursday, June 18, 2009

Alcohol and Suicide Among Racial/Ethnic Populations --- 17 States, 2005--2006
MMWR Weekly June 19, 2009 / 58(23);637-641

During 2001--2005, an estimated annual 79,646 alcohol-attributable deaths (AAD) and 2.3 million years of potential life lost (YPLL) were attributed to the harmful effects of excessive alcohol use (1). An estimated 5,800 AAD and 189,667 YPLL were associated annually with suicide (1). The burden of suicide varies widely among racial and ethnic populations in the United States, and limited data are available to describe the role of alcohol in suicides in these populations.

To examine the relationship between alcohol and suicide among racial/ethnic populations, CDC analyzed data from the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) for the 2-year period 2005--2006 (the most recent data available).

This report summarizes the results of that analysis, which indicated that the overall prevalence of alcohol intoxication (i.e., blood alcohol concentration [BAC] at or above the legal limit of 0.08 g/dL) was nearly 24% among suicide decedents tested for alcohol, with the highest percentage occurring among American Indian/Alaska Natives (AI/ANs) (37%), followed by Hispanics (29%) and persons aged 20--49 years (28%).

These results indicate that many populations can benefit from comprehensive and culturally appropriate suicide-prevention strategies that include efforts to reduce alcohol consumption, especially programs that focus on persons aged <50>



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