Guns, Alcohol, and Intimate Partner Violence: The Epidemiology of Female Suicide in New Mexico

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Abstract
Suicide is among the leading causes of death in the United States, and in women the second leading cause of injury death overall. Previous studies have suggested links between intimate partner violence and suicide in women. We examined female suicide deaths to identify and describe associated risk factors. We reviewed all reports from the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator for female suicide deaths occurring in New Mexico from 1990 to 1994. Information abstracted included demographics, mechanism of death, presence of alcohol/drugs, clinical depression, intimate partner violence, health problems, and other variables. Annual rates were calculated based on the 1990 census. The New Mexico female suicide death rate was 8.2/100,000 persons per year (n = 313), nearly twice the U. S. rate of 4.5/100,000. Non-Hispanic whites were overrepresented compared to Hispanics and American Indians. Decedents ranged in age from 14 to 93 years (median = 43 years). Firearms accounted for 45.7% of the suicide deaths,...

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