Bundeswehr Centre for Military Mental Health, Bundeswehr Hospital Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Bundeswehr Centre for Military History and Social Sciences, Potsdam, Germany.
Suicide Life Threat Behav. 2019 Oct;49(5):1497-1509. doi: 10.1111/sltb.12534. Epub 2018 Dec 17.
The last 10 years have seen an increase in the number of suicides in the US Armed Forces. Accordingly, the topic of suicides in the German military has received a lot of attention in media and science alike.
This study retrospectively examined all suicides (N = 107) committed by active, nonretired German military personnel from 2010 to the end of 2014, analyzing archived medical records. In a second step, these data were compared to a representative German Armed Forces survey conducted in 2012 (N = 1,549).
The following risk groups for suicide were identified: male (OR = 9.6), single (OR = 7.8), aged over 45 years (OR = 4.0), short period of service (<2 years; OR = 2.7), and low level of education (OR = 2.2). Surprisingly, military personnel with little experience in deployments abroad (<2 missions) showed double the risk (OR = 2.0) compared to those who had been deployed more than once.
Multiple robustness checks show that being single, aged over 45 years, and having obtained a low level of education exhibit the most robust effects on suicide risk.
Efforts should be made to develop and evaluate risk group-focused prevention programs. We conclude, that further studies should be initiated to show differences of risk groups between lethal and nonlethal suicidal behavior.
在过去的 10 年中，美国武装部队的自杀人数有所增加。因此，德国军队的自杀问题在媒体和科学界都受到了广泛关注。
本研究回顾性地分析了 2010 年至 2014 年底期间现役、非退役的德国军事人员的所有自杀事件（N=107），分析了存档的医疗记录。在第二步中，将这些数据与 2012 年进行的一项具有代表性的德国武装部队调查（N=1549）进行了比较。
确定了以下自杀风险群体：男性（OR=9.6）、单身（OR=7.8）、年龄超过 45 岁（OR=4.0）、服役时间短（<2 年；OR=2.7）和教育程度低（OR=2.2）。令人惊讶的是，与多次部署的军人相比，在国外部署经验较少（<2 次任务）的军人的自杀风险高出两倍（OR=2.0）。
多项稳健性检验表明，单身、年龄超过 45 岁和接受低水平教育对自杀风险的影响最为显著。
应努力制定和评估针对风险群体的预防计划。我们得出结论，应进一步开展研究，以显示致命和非致命自杀行为之间的风险群体差异。
