Suicidal ideation and behavior among adults by sex, race/ethnicity, age group, and state – United States, 2008 and 2009

Background: Suicidal thoughts and behavior are major public health concerns in the US. In 2007, there were 34,598 suicides and over 472,000 hospital emergency department visits for non-fatal self-inflicted injuries. State data on suicide-related issues are needed to establish program priorities and evaluate the impact of prevention strategies. This study describes the 12 month prevalence of suicidal ideation, planning, and attempt by age, sex, race/ethnicity, and state using the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). Methods: We performed a descriptive analysis of suicidal behavior among the U.S. civilian, non-institutionalized population aged 18 years or older during 2008 and 2009 using the national- and state-level representative sample of NSDUH. Results: We estimate in 2008-2009, 8.3 million (annual average, 3.7 % of the population) adults in the U.S. reported serious thoughts of suicide in the past year, 2.2 million (1.0%) adults reported suicide plans, and 1.0 million (0.5%) adults reported making a suicide attempt. Prevalence estimates of suicidal thoughts and behavior varied by region and state. Young adults aged 18-29 years reported a significantly higher prevalence of all three suicide-related items in each geographic region than adults aged 30 and older. There were no differences in the suicide-related items by sex or race/ethnicity between the regions. Conclusion: This report's findings indicate that variations exist at the regional and state level in the 12 month prevalence of suicidal thoughts and behavior among adults. This emphasizes the need to collect locally relevant data as the basis for prevention and control activities.