Suicide mortality and related behavior following calls to the Veterans Crisis Line by Veterans Health Administration patients
Objectives To assess outcomes for Veterans Health Administration (VHA) patients following calls to the Veterans Crisis Line (VCL). Methods 158,927 VHA patients had an initial VCL call in 2010–2015 with documented identifiers. Multivariable proportional hazards regressions assessed risks of suicide a...
Gespeichert in:
Veröffentlicht in: | Suicide & life-threatening behavior 2021-06, Vol.51 (3), p.596-605 |
---|---|
Hauptverfasser: | , , , , , |
Format: | Artikel |
Sprache: | eng |
Online-Zugang: | Volltext |
Tags: |
Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
|
Zusammenfassung: | Objectives
To assess outcomes for Veterans Health Administration (VHA) patients following calls to the Veterans Crisis Line (VCL).
Methods
158,927 VHA patients had an initial VCL call in 2010–2015 with documented identifiers. Multivariable proportional hazards regressions assessed risks of suicide and suicide‐related behavior through 12 months. Covariates included age, sex, region, mental health encounters in the prior year, time of day, weekday/weekend status, call outcome, and responder determination of caller risk.
Results
Annualized suicide rates per 100,000 within 1, 3, 6, and 12 months were 797, 520, 387, and 298, respectively. Average age was 49.9 (SD = 15.2), 86.5% were male, 68.6% received mental health encounters in the prior year, and 5.9% had calls categorized as at high risk. Adjusting for covariates, suicide risk was greater among male callers and those with calls categorized as at high or moderate risk.
Conclusions
Veterans Crisis Line serves a high‐risk population at a critical time. Rates were particularly high within one month and remained substantially elevated through 12 months. Findings have directly informed ongoing efforts to enhance coordination between VCL and VHA to support suicide prevention. |
---|---|
ISSN: | 0363-0234 1943-278X |
DOI: | 10.1111/sltb.12722 |