National Suicide Statistics at a Glance

Number* and Percentage^† of Suicides for Persons Ages 10 Years and Older, by Sex and Associated Circumstances - National Violent Death Reporting System, 16 states^§, 2009

The National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) is a state-based surveillance system that utilizes multiple data sources including death certificates, coroner/medical examiner records, and law enforcement reports to provide detailed information on circumstances precipitating violent deaths. In 2009, 16 states collected statewide data for the NVDRS.

Overall, the most commonly reported circumstances associated with suicide decedents were current mental-health problems, with 44.9 % described as experiencing a depressed mood at the time of their death. Similar percentages of male and female suicide decedents were observed to have a depressed mood at the time of death; however, female victims were more than 1.5 times as likely as male victims to have a current diagnosis of a mental-health problem (62.1% and 40.1%, respectively) or be currently treated for a mental-health problem (49.5% and 26.9%, respectively) or to have a history of suicide attempt(s) (34.2% and 16.2% respectively)

Data Source: 2009 NVDRS data using WISQARS (http://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars)

Footnote: *N = 8,701 (6,794 males and 1,907 females). There were 1244 suicides in which circumstances were unknown and these cases were not included in the percentage calculations.

†Percentages might exceed 100% because multiple circumstances might have been coded.

^§Alaska, Colorado, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin.

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