County-Level Factors Associated With Risk for Suicide

U.S. counties with higher levels of health insurance, broadband coverage have lower suicide rates

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, Sept. 12, 2024 (HealthDay News) — U.S. counties with higher levels of health insurance coverage, access to broadband internet, and household income appear to have lower suicide rates, according to a report published in the Sept. 10 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Alison L. Cammack, Ph.D., from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and colleagues examined upstream community risk and protective factors for suicide in 2022. Suicide deaths were identified in the National Vital Statistics System; county-level factors were identified from federal data sources.

The researchers found that the overall suicide rate was 14.2 per 100,000 population in 2022; the highest rates were seen among non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native (AI/AN) persons, males, and rural residents (27.1, 23.0, and 20.0, respectively). In counties in the top one-third percentage of persons or households with health insurance coverage, with access to broadband internet, and with income >100 percent of the federal poverty level, the suicide rates were lowest (13.0, 13.3, and 13.5, respectively). In some disproportionately affected populations, these factors were more strongly associated with lower suicide rates; suicide rates in the highest tertile of these factors were approximately half the rates of counties in the lowest tertile among AI/AN persons.

“Improving the conditions where persons are born, grow, work, live, and age might reduce suicide deaths. Decision-makers, government agencies, and communities can work together to implement programs, practices, and policies that increase access to health insurance and broadband internet and promote economic supports,” the authors write.