Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #99994

Matthew J. Miller, MD, MPH, ScD¹, Deborah Azrael, PhD², David Hemenway, PhD², and Steven Lippmann, bs². (1) Health Policy & Management, Harvard University, 677 Huntington Ave, Room 305, Kresge Building, Boston, MA 02115, 671 432 1459, mmiller@hsph.harvard.edu, (2) Harvard Injury Control Research Center, Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115

Objective: To use recently available estimates of household firearm ownership to examine the firearm prevalence-suicide connection in cross-section and over time. Methods: Negative binomial regression analyses were used to assess the relation between firearm storage practices and rates of suicide. Cross sectional, state level analyses controlled for rates of poverty, urbanization and unemployment. Age-adjusted regional fixed-effects models were employed in longitudinal analyses. Results: Americans of all ages and both sexes are more likely die from suicide when they live in areas or times in which household firearms are more prevalent. Cross sectional and longitudinal analyses found a positive and significant association between levels of household firearm ownership and rates of suicide, driven by the relation between firearm prevalence and rates of firearm suicide. Conclusion: Rates of firearm ownership are strongly associated with higher rates of firearm-related and overall suicide, both in cross section and over time, consistent with the hypothesis suicidal intent is not the sole determinate of suicide mortality. Our findings lend credibility to the potential effectiveness of means restriction as a public health approach to preventing suicide, especially among youth.

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