Increasing RuralUrban Gradients in US Suicide Mortality, 19701997
Gopal K. Singh, PhD, MS, MSc and
Mohammad Siahpush, PhD, MS
Gopal K. Singh is with the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md. Mohammad Siahpush is with the VicHealth Centre for Tobacco Control, Cancer Control Research Institute, Anti-Cancer Council of Victoria, Carlton, Australia.
Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Gopal K. Singh, PhD, MS, MSc, National Cancer Institute, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, 6116 Executive Blvd, Suite 504, MSC 8316, Bethesda, MD 20892-8316 (e-mail: gopal_singh{at}nih.gov).
Objectives. This study examined ruralurban gradientsin US suicide mortality and the extent to which such gradientsvaried across time, sex, and age.
Methods. Using a 10-category ruralurban continuum measureand 19701997 county mortality data, we estimated ruralurbandifferentials in suicide mortality over time by multiple regressionand Poisson regression models.
Results. Significant ruralurban gradients in age-adjustedmale suicide mortality were found in each time period, indicatingrising suicide rates with increasing levels of rurality. Thegradient increased consistently, suggesting widening ruralurbandifferentials in male suicides over time. When controlled forgeographic variation in divorce rate and ethnic composition,rural men, in each age cohort, had about twice the suicide rateof their most urban counterparts. Observed ruralurbandifferentials for women diminished over time. In 1995 to 1997,the adjusted suicide rates for young and working-age women were85% and 22% higher, respectively, in rural than in the mosturban areas.
Conclusions. The slope of the relationship between ruralurbancontinuum and suicide mortality varied substantially by time,sex, and age. Widening ruralurban disparities in suicidemay reflect differential changes over time in key social integrationindicators. (Am J Public Health. 2002;92:11611167)
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