Suicide-related behaviors among American Indian and Alaska Native Veterans: A population-based analysis

ABSTRACT

American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) Veterans are at elevated risk for suicide, but currently, no population-based research exists on precursors, including ideation, plans, or attempts. We employed two large national surveys to investigate the occurrence of suicide-related behaviors among AI/AN Veterans. Using cross-sectional data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS, 2010–2012) and National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH, 2010–2015), we compared weighted frequencies of suicide ideation in AI/AN Veterans and non-Hispanic White (NHW) Veterans. Suicide ideation among AI/AN Veterans was 9.1% (95%CI = 3.6%, 21.5%) and 8.9% (95%CI = 1.9%, 15.9%) in BRFSS and NSDUH, respectively, compared to 3.5% (95%CI = 3.0%, 4.1%) and 3.7% (95%CI = 3.0%, 4.4%) for NHW Veterans. Logit analysis suggested higher odds of ideation among AI/AN Veterans in both samples (NDSUH: OR = 2.68, 95%CI = 1.14–6.31; BRFSS: OR = 2.66, 95% CI 0.96–7.38), although sample sizes were small and confidence intervals were wide. Consistent findings from two national samples suggest AI/AN Veterans have more than twice the risk of suicide ideation relative to NHW Veterans. Ongoing efforts include weighing these results together with data on suicide deaths from medical and death records to develop effective suicide prevention approaches in collaboration with AI/AN Veterans and their communities.

KEYWORDS:

• Suicide ideation
• Veterans health
• American Indian and Alaska Native peoples

Acknowledgments

Funding provided by the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Rural Health (ORH). Visit www.ruralhealth.va.gov to learn more. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The authors do not have any conflicts of interest to disclose.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Rural Health (ORH).