Suicide and Alcohol: Do Outlets Play a Role?Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research Early View 17 Sep 2009
The purpose of this study was to determine whether the number of alcohol outlets in local and adjacent areas, in particular bars, was related over time to completed suicide and suicide attempts. There is evidence both from studies of individuals and time series aggregate studies, mostly at the national level, of substantial alcohol involvement in suicide, but no small-area, longitudinal studies have been carried out.
The present study is the first that is both longitudinal and based on a large number of small spatial units, California zip codes, a level of resolution permitting analysis of the relationship between local alcohol access and suicide rates over time.
Bar densities in particular appear related to suicide, meaning, because this is an aggregate-level spatial analysis, that suicides, both attempted and completed, occur at greater rates in rural community areas with greater bar densities. Because the suicide rate is highest in rural areas, this study suggests that although the number of completed and attempted suicides is no doubt greater in absolute numbers in urban areas, the suicide rate, both completed and attempted, is greater in rural areas, which draws attention, perhaps much needed, to the problems of rural America.
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