[YSPNetwork] Research study from Harvard Injury Control Research Group

[Donna NOONAN]

YSPNetworkers,
I'm forwarding an email I received from the Harvard Injury Control Research Center about firearm ownership and rates of suicide by state. I urge you to read the attached journal article by Dr. Matthew Miller.
 
Dear Suicide Prevention Coalition Members,
 
We would like to share important findings from a study appearing in the April issue of the Journal of Trauma. The study, titled "Household Firearm Ownership and Rates of Suicide across the 50 US States" is the first nationally representative study to examine the relationship between gun availability and suicide rates using state-level survey measures of household firearm ownership. Findings indicate that states with higher rates of household firearm ownership have significantly higher suicide rates among men, women and children of all ages compared to states with lower levels of gun ownership. This finding remained even after the authors accounted for risk factors for suicide at the state level such as mental illness, drug and alcohol abuse and dependence, as well as poverty, urbanization and unemployment. 
 
The study's lead author Dr. Matthew Miller and co-authors Steve Lippmann, David Hemenway and Deborah Azrael of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center noted that "removing all firearms from one's home is one of the most effective and straightforward steps that household decision*makers can take to reduce the risk of suicide, especially among adolescents and other potentially impulsive family members." Other studies have indicated that storing guns securely locked and separate from ammunition also reduces the risk of suicide. 
 
Attached you will find a copy of Dr. Miller's article as well as a table of suicide and gun ownership rates by state. We hope you find these documents useful.
 

Best Wishes,
 
Harvard Injury Control Research Center
 
 
 
Donna G. Noonan, MPH, CHES
Youth Suicide Prevention Coordinator
Injury Prevention & Epidemiology Program
Oregon Public Health Division
800 NE Oregon, Ste 772
Portland, OR 97232
NEW PHONE NO.:  Phone: 971-673-1023 
NEW FAX NO. Fax 971-673-0990
donna.noonan at state.or.us
http://oregon.gov/dhs/ph/ipe/ysp/index.shtml
 
Join YSPNetwork, Youth Suicide Prevention listserv for the Pacific Northwest at http://listsmart.osl.state.or.us/mailman/listinfo/yspnetwork

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