Suicide Deaths by Firearms Increasing Among Older Women
THURSDAY, Sept. 4, 2025 -- Suicide deaths by firearms have increased among older women, according to a research letter published online Aug. 26 in JAMA Network Open.
Ziming Xuan, Sc.D., from the Boston University School of Public Health, and colleagues conducted a cross-sectional study to examine trends in firearm suicides among older adults. Counts, crude rates, and age-adjusted rates of suicide deaths were obtained from the CDC WONDER database from Jan. 1, 2014, through Dec. 31, 2023. The ratio of firearm suicides to all suicides (FS/S) was calculated for each year.
Overall, 63,559 older individuals who died by firearm suicide were included in the study (median age, 75 years; 8.8 percent female; 91.2 percent male). The researchers found that the FS/S ratio increased from 34.9 to 38.5 percent among women (β = 0.42). From 2014 to 2023, there was an increase in crude firearm suicide rates per 100,000 population, from 1.76 to 2.20 (β = 0.04). Men had substantially higher firearm suicide rates, but their FS/S ratio did not change over time. The interaction between sex and trend increased significantly among women versus men.
"It is essential to enhance access to mental health care for older adults, particularly in states with less restrictive firearm control policies and high levels of firearm ownership," the authors write.
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
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