scholarly journals A Data Science Approach to Estimating the Frequency of Driving Cessation Associated Suicide in the US: Evidence From the National Violent Death Reporting System

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomohiro M. Ko ◽  
Viktoryia A. Kalesnikava ◽  
David Jurgens ◽  
Briana Mezuk
Keyword(s):  
Data Science ◽  
Reporting System ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Life Transitions ◽  
Medical Examiner ◽  
Violent Death ◽  
Driving Cessation ◽  
The Us ◽  
Aging Adults

Driving cessation is a common transition experienced by aging adults that confers both a symbolic and literal loss of independence due to the central role of automobiles for mobility in the US. Prior research has shown that driving cessation has negative implications for mental health, social participation, and access to healthcare. Given these sequelae of driving cessation and prior work showing that late-life transitions related to independence (e.g., transitioning into residential care) are associated with suicide, we sought to estimate the frequency of driving cessation associated suicide. Data include suicide (n = 59,080) and undetermined (n = 6,862) deaths aged ≥55 from the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS, 2003–2017). Each case in the NVDRS has both quantitative data (e.g., demographic characteristics) and qualitative text narratives, derived from coroner/medical examiner reports, which describe the most salient circumstances and features of each death. To identify cases associated with driving cessation, we employed a supervised random forest algorithm to develop a Natural Language Processing (NLP) classifier. Identified driving cessation associated cases were then categorized and characterized using descriptive statistics and qualitative content analysis. From 2003 to 2017, there were an estimated 305 cases of suicide/undetermined deaths associated with driving cessation in the NVDRS, representing 0.04% of all cases. Cases associated with driving cessation were older, more likely to be male, more likely to have a physical health problem, more likely to have experienced a recent crisis, and more likely to have lived in a rural county than other decedents. Qualitative analysis identified functional impairment, alcohol-related driving limitations, loss of employment, and recent car accidents as common themes among cases associated with driving cessation. This analysis illustrates the utility of NLP in identifying novel correlates of suicide in later life. Although driving cessation associated suicide is a rare outcome, further research is warranted on understanding the conditions under which driving cessation is associated with suicidal behavior, and how to support the well-being of aging adults during these types of major life transitions.

scholarly journals Not discussed: Inequalities in narrative text data for suicide deaths in the National Violent Death Reporting System

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (7) ◽  
pp. e0254417
Author(s):  
Briana Mezuk ◽  
Viktoryia A. Kalesnikava ◽  
Jenni Kim ◽  
Tomohiro M. Ko ◽  
Cassady Collins
Keyword(s):  
Minority Groups ◽  
Reporting System ◽  
Suicide Mortality ◽  
Medical Examiner ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Violent Death ◽  
Narrative Texts ◽  
Text Data ◽  
Location Of Death ◽  
The Us

Background The rate of suicide in the US has increased substantially in the past two decades, and new insights are needed to support prevention efforts. The National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS), the nation’s most comprehensive registry of suicide mortality, has qualitative text narratives that describe salient circumstances of these deaths. These texts have great potential for providing novel insights about suicide risk but may be subject to information bias. Objective To examine the relationship between decedent characteristics and the presence and length of NVDRS text narratives (separately for coroner/medical examiner (C/ME) and law enforcement (LE) reports) among 233,108 suicide and undetermined deaths from 2003–2017. Methods Generalized estimating equations (GEE) logistic and quasi-Poisson modeling was used to examine variation in the narratives (proportion of missing texts and character length of the non-missing texts, respectively) as a function of decedent age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, marital status, military history, and homeless status. Models adjusted for site, year, location of death, and autopsy status. Results The frequency of missing narratives was higher for LE vs. C/ME texts (19.8% vs. 5.2%). Decedent characteristics were not consistently associated with missing text across the two types of narratives (i.e., Black decedents were more likely to be missing the LE narrative but less likely to be missing the C/ME narrative relative to non-Hispanic whites). Conditional on having a narrative, C/ME were significantly longer than LE (822.44 vs. 780.68 characters). Decedents who were older, male, had less education and some racial/ethnic minority groups had shorter narratives (both C/ME and LE) than younger, female, more educated, and non-Hispanic white decedents. Conclusion Decedent characteristics are significantly related to the presence and length of narrative texts for suicide and undetermined deaths in the NVDRS. Findings can inform future research using these data to identify novel determinants of suicide mortality.

Characteristics of persons who die on their first suicide attempt: results from the National Violent Death Reporting System

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (8) ◽  
pp. 1390-1397 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua T. Jordan ◽  
Dale E. McNiel
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Suicide Attempt ◽  
Reporting System ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Medical Examiner ◽  
Violent Death ◽  
Legal Problem ◽  
History Of ◽  
Life Circumstances

AbstractBackgroundMuch of suicide research focuses on suicide attempt (SA) survivors. Given that more than half of the suicide decedent population dies on their first attempt, this means a significant proportion of the population that dies by suicide is overlooked in research. Little is known about persons who die by suicide on their first attempt–and characterizing this understudied population may improve efforts to identify more individuals at risk for suicide.MethodsData were derived from the National Violent Death Reporting System, from 2005 to 2013. Suicide cases were included if they were 18–89 years old, with a known circumstance leading to their death based on law enforcement and/or medical examiner reports. Decedents with and without a history of SA were compared on demographic, clinical, and suicide characteristics, and circumstances that contributed to their suicide.ResultsA total of 73 490 cases met criteria, and 57 920 (79%) died on their first SA. First attempt decedents were more likely to be male, married, African-American, and over 64. Demographic-adjusted models showed that first attempt decedents were more likely to use highly lethal methods, less likely to have a known mental health problem or to have disclosed their intent to others, and more likely to die in the context of physical health or criminal/legal problem.ConclusionsFirst attempt suicide decedents are demographically different from decedents with a history of SA, are more likely to use lethal methods and are more likely to die in the context of specific stressful life circumstances.

scholarly journals Examining differences between mass, multiple, and single-victim homicides to inform prevention: findings from the National Violent Death Reporting System

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine A. Fowler ◽  
Rachel A. Leavitt ◽  
Carter J. Betz ◽  
Keming Yuan ◽  
Linda L. Dahlberg
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Reporting System ◽  
Public Health Problem ◽  
The United States ◽  
Medical Examiner ◽  
Violent Death ◽  
Homicide Rates ◽  
Shared Risk ◽  
The U.S

Abstract Background Multi-victim homicides are a persistent public health problem confronting the United States. Previous research shows that homicide rates in the U.S. are approximately seven times higher than those of other high-income countries, driven by firearm homicide rates that are 25 times higher; 31% of public mass shootings in the world also occur in the U.S.. The purpose of this analysis is to examine the characteristics of mass, multiple, and single homicides to help identify prevention points that may lead to a reduction in different types of homicides. Methods We used all available years (2003–2017) and U.S. states/jurisdictions (35 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico) included in CDC’s National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS), a public health surveillance system which combines death certificate, coroner/medical examiner, and law enforcement reports into victim- and incident-level data on violent deaths. NVDRS includes up to 600 standard variables per incident; further information on types of mental illness among suspected perpetrators and incident resolution was qualitatively coded from case narratives. Data regarding number of persons nonfatally shot within incidents were cross-validated when possible with several other resources, including government reports and the Gun Violence Archive. Mass homicides (4+ victims), multiple homicides (2-3 victims) and single homicides were analyzed to assess group differences using Chi-square tests with Bonferroni-corrected post-hoc comparisons. Results Mass homicides more often had female, child, and non-Hispanic white victims than other homicide types. Compared with victims of other homicide types, victims of mass homicides were more often killed by strangers or someone else they did not know well, or by family members. More than a third were related to intimate partner violence. Approximately one-third of mass homicide perpetrators had suicidal thoughts/behaviors noted in the time leading up to the incident. Multi-victim homicides were more often perpetrated with semi-automatic firearms than single homicides. When accounting for nonfatally shot victims, over 4 times as many incidents could have resulted in mass homicide. Conclusions These findings underscore the important interconnections among multiple forms of violence. Primary prevention strategies addressing shared risk and protective factors are key to reducing these incidents.

scholarly journals The US National Violent Death Reporting System: domestic and international lessons for violence injury surveillance

2006 ◽  
Vol 12 (suppl_2) ◽  
pp. ii58-ii62 ◽  
Author(s):  
H B Weiss ◽  
M I Gutierrez ◽  
J Harrison ◽  
R Matzopoulos
Keyword(s):  
Reporting System ◽  
Injury Surveillance ◽  
Violent Death ◽  
The Us

Integrating Medical Examiner and Police Report Data

Crisis ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 160-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian W. Ward ◽  
Ryan T. Shields ◽  
Bert R. Cramer
Keyword(s):  
Reporting System ◽  
Strong Relationship ◽  
The United States ◽  
Medical Examiner ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
Violent Death ◽  
The Social ◽  
Police Report ◽  
Report Data ◽  
Reported Data

Background: Recently, suicide in the United States has begun to be viewed as a preventable public health issue. This has led to the creation of a National Violent Death Reporting System that collects and integrates data on the social circumstances surrounding suicides. Aims: The study examines data on social circumstances surrounding suicides as collected by the medical examiner report (ME) and police report (PR) and subsequently integrated into the state of Maryland’s violent death reporting system. Methods: Reported data on social circumstances surrounding suicides occurring in the years 2003–2006 in Maryland (n = 1,476) were analyzed by examining their prevalence in the ME and PR, strength of association, and integration. Results: With the exception of three circumstances, there was variation among reported circumstances in the ME and PR. Furthermore, there was only a moderately strong relationship between the ME and PR for most circumstances, while a significant increase occurred in the prevalence of these circumstances when ME and PR were integrated. Conclusions: The integration of ME and PR has the potential to increase our knowledge of the circumstances surrounding suicide and to better inform prevention efforts. However, before this potential can be reached, there are still issues that must be considered.

scholarly journals The US National Violent Death Reporting System

2006 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 355-355
Author(s):  
J C Friday ◽  
L Barker ◽  
B Pless
Keyword(s):  
Reporting System ◽  
Violent Death ◽  
The Us
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