CDC report: Suicide more common in rural areas

Rural Americans are more likely to die by suicide than people living in more populated areas, according to a report released yesterday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Researchers studied deaths from 2001 to 2015 and found more than half a million suicides during that time period. Rural death rates were 17.32 per 100,000 people, while suicides in medium or small metropolitan counties were 14.86 per 100,000, and 11.92 per 100,000 in large metropolitan counties.

"While we’ve seen many causes of death come down in recent years, suicide rates have increased more than 20 percent from 2001 to 2015. And this is especially concerning in rural areas," said CDC Director Brenda Fitzgerald. "We need proven prevention efforts to help stop these deaths and the terrible pain and loss they cause."

The trends in suicide rates by demographic factors like sex, race, ethnicity, age, and method of suicide were magnified in rural areas, according to James Mercy, director of CDC's Division of Violence Prevention. "This report underscores the need for suicide prevention strategies that are tailored specifically for these communities," he said.

Other findings from the CDC study:

• "Across metropolitan and rural areas, suicide rates for males were four to five times higher than for females during the study period.
• Suicide rates for Black Non-Hispanics in rural areas were consistently lower than suicide rates for Black Non-Hispanics in urban areas.
• White Non-Hispanics have the highest suicide rates in metropolitan counties while American Indian/Alaska Native Non-Hispanics have the highest rates in rural counties.
• Findings by age group revealed increases in suicide rates for all ages with the highest rates and greatest rate increases in rural counties."