Purpose

Suicide is an ongoing public health crisis among youth and adolescents, and few studies have investigated the spatial patterning in the United States among this subpopulation. Potential precursors to suicide in this vulnerable group are also on the rise, including nonfatal self-injury.

Methods

This study uses emergency department data, death certificates, and violent death reporting system data for North Carolina from 2009 to 2018 to investigate spatial clusters of self-injury and suicide.

Results

Findings show that the demographic characteristics of individuals committing fatal and nonfatal self-injury are quite different. Self-injury and completed suicides exhibited different geographical patterns. Area-level measures like micropolitan status and measures of racial and income segregation predicted the presence of high-risk suicide clusters. Suicides among Native Americans and veteran status/military personnel also were associated with higher risk suicide clusters.

Discussion

Future interventions should target these specific high-risk locations for immediate reductions in adolescent and youth suicides.

中文翻译：

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探索北卡罗来纳州青少年和年轻人自杀和自杀相关结果的地方差异

目的

自杀是青年和青少年中持续存在的公共卫生危机，很少有研究调查美国这一亚人群的空间格局。这一弱势群体自杀的潜在先兆也在增加，包括非致命性自伤。

方法

本研究使用北卡罗来纳州 2009 年至 2018 年的急诊科数据、死亡证明和暴力死亡报告系统数据来调查自伤和自杀的空间集群。

结果

调查结果表明，犯下致命和非致命自伤行为的个人的人口统计特征大不相同。自伤和完成自杀表现出不同的地理模式。小城市地位等地区级措施以及种族和收入隔离措施预测了高风险自杀集群的存在。美洲原住民和退伍军人/军人的自杀也与较高风险的自杀群有关。

讨论

未来的干预措施应针对这些特定的高风险地区，以立即减少青少年的自杀率。