LAUSR.org creates dashboard-style pages of related content for over 1.5 million academic articles. Sign Up to like articles & get recommendations!

Suicide, Homicide, and Other Violent Deaths Among People Experiencing Homelessness in the United States: A Cross-sectional Study

Photo by priscilladupreez from unsplash

Objectives: Limited information exists about violent deaths among people experiencing homelessness (PEH) across the United States. Using data from a national reporting system, we describe characteristics of suicides, homicides, and… Click to show full abstract

Objectives: Limited information exists about violent deaths among people experiencing homelessness (PEH) across the United States. Using data from a national reporting system, we describe characteristics of suicides, homicides, and other deaths classified as violent among PEH in the United States. Methods: We obtained data on demographic characteristics, mechanisms of injury, and circumstances surrounding violent deaths from January 1, 2016, through December 31, 2018, in 31 states from the National Violent Death Reporting System. Results: Of 122 113 violent deaths in 31 states during 2016-2018, 1757 (1.4%) occurred among PEH and 3952 (3.2%) occurred among people for whom homelessness status was unknown or missing. Of all violent deaths among PEH, 878 were suicides (1.1% of all suicides), 458 were homicides (1.6% of all homicides), 352 were of undetermined intent (2.8% of all deaths of undetermined intent), and 59 were the result of legal interventions (3.8% of all deaths due to legal interventions). Hanging/suffocation/strangulation was the most common mechanism of suicide among PEH (44.4%), followed by deaths due to firearms (21.6%). Firearms were the most common mechanism of homicide deaths among PEH (48.0%). Black PEH were more likely to die by homicide than by suicide, and White PEH were more likely to die by suicide than by homicide. Among the 843 suicide victims for whom additional information was known, 345 (40.9%) had a history of suicidal thoughts or plans, 245 (29.1%) had disclosed intent to die by suicide, and 183 (21.7%) were receiving treatment for a mental health condition. Conclusions: Efforts to reduce mortality and improve health outcomes among PEH should consider the high rates of violent deaths in this population.

Keywords: suicide; among people; violent deaths; deaths among; among peh; united states

Journal Title: Public Health Reports
Year Published: 2022

Link to full text (if available)


Share on Social Media:                               Sign Up to like & get
recommendations!

Related content

More Information              News              Social Media              Video              Recommended



                Click one of the above tabs to view related content.