Male veterans have higher suicide risk: study

http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN1148297520070611?feedType=RSS

Male veterans have higher suicide risk: study
Mon Jun 11, 2007 7:05PM EDT


By Will Dunham

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Male U.S. veterans are twice as likely to die by suicide than people with no military service, and are more likely to kill themselves with a gun than others who commit suicide, researchers said on Monday.

The findings indicate that doctors and others who may treat U.S. troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan should be alert for signs of depression and suicidal tendencies, said lead researcher Mark Kaplan of Portland State University in Oregon.

The study tracked 320,890 U.S. men, about a third of whom served in the U.S. military between 1917 and 1994. The rest had no military background.

Those with military service committed suicide at a rate 2.13 times higher than the other men, but did not have a higher risk of dying from disease, accidental causes or murder, the study found.

"This is identifying a problem that deserves more attention," Kaplan said in a telephone interview.

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