Song In Han, Lee Jin Hyuk, Shin Jee Soo
ICONS Convergence Academy, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Graduate School of Social Welfare, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
JMIR Public Health Surveill. 2023 Sep 29;9:e44211. doi: 10.2196/44211.
Suicide by firearms is a serious public health issue in the United States. However, little research has been conducted on the relationship between cultural backgrounds and suicide by firearms, specifically in those born and raised in the United States compared to those who have immigrated to the United States.
To better understand the relationship between cultural backgrounds and suicide, this study aimed to examine firearm suicide rates among US- and foreign-born suicide decedents based on the firearm possession rate in the decedent's home country.
Multivariate logistic regression was performed to analyze data of 28,895 suicide decedents from 37 states obtained from the 2017 National Violent Death Reporting System data set. The firearm possession rate in the home countries of foreign-born suicide decedents was obtained from the 2017 Small Arms Survey.
The firearm suicide rate was about twice as high among US-born suicide decedents compared to their foreign-born counterparts. Meanwhile, suicide by hanging was about 75% higher among foreign-born compared to US-born suicide decedents. Those from countries with a low-to-medium firearm possession rate were significantly less likely to use firearms compared to US-born suicide decedents (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]=0.45, 95% CI 0.31-0.65, and AOR=0.46, 95% CI 0.39-0.53, respectively). Meanwhile, firearm suicide rates were not different between US- and foreign-born suicide decedents from countries with a similarly high firearm possession rate.
The results suggest that there is an association between using firearms as a means of suicide and the firearm possession rate in the decedent's home country. Suicide by firearms in the United States needs to be understood in the sociocultural context related to firearm possession.
在美国，枪支自杀是一个严重的公共卫生问题。然而，关于文化背景与枪支自杀之间的关系，尤其是在美国出生和长大的人与移民到美国的人之间的关系，相关研究较少。
为了更好地理解文化背景与自杀之间的关系，本研究旨在根据死者原籍国的枪支拥有率，调查美国出生和外国出生的自杀死者中的枪支自杀率。
采用多变量逻辑回归分析从2017年国家暴力死亡报告系统数据集中获取的来自37个州的28895名自杀死者的数据。外国出生的自杀死者原籍国的枪支拥有率来自2017年小武器调查。
美国出生的自杀死者的枪支自杀率约为外国出生的自杀死者的两倍。同时，外国出生的自杀死者中，上吊自杀的比例比美国出生的自杀死者高约75%。与美国出生的自杀死者相比，来自枪支拥有率低至中等的国家的人使用枪支自杀的可能性显著降低（调整后的优势比[AOR]=0.45，95%置信区间0.31-0.65；以及AOR=0.46，95%置信区间0.39-0.53）。同时，来自枪支拥有率同样高的国家的美国出生和外国出生的自杀死者的枪支自杀率没有差异。
结果表明，使用枪支作为自杀手段与死者原籍国的枪支拥有率之间存在关联。需要在与枪支拥有相关的社会文化背景下理解美国的枪支自杀问题。
