Merrill-Francis Molly, Dunphy Christopher, Lennon Natalie, Chen May S, Grady Catherine, Miller Gabrielle F, Girod Candace, McCourt Alexander Duncan
Division of Violence Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Division of Injury Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Inj Prev. 2024 Sep 3. doi: 10.1136/ip-2024-045266.
Firearm suicides constitute a major public health issue. Policies that enhance economic security and decrease community-level poverty may be effective strategies for reducing risk of firearm suicide. This study examined the association between state minimum wage and firearm suicide.
State minimum wage, obtained from Temple's Law Atlas and augmented by legal research, was conceptualised using the modified Kaitz Index and a continuous variable centred on the federal minimum wage. State-level suicide counts were obtained from 2000 to 2020 multiple-cause-of-death mortality data from the National Vital Statistics System. Log-linear regressions were conducted to model the associations between state minimum wage and firearm suicides, stratifying by demographic groups. Analyses were conducted in 2023.
A one percentage point increase in a state's modified Kaitz Index was associated with a 0.3% (95% CI -0.6% to -0.0%) decrease in firearm suicides within a state. A US$1.00 increase in a state's minimum wage above the federal minimum wage was associated with a 1.4% (95% CI -2.1% to -0.6%) decrease in firearm suicides. When stratified by quartile of firearm ownership, the modified Kaitz Index was associated with decreases in firearm suicides most consistently in the two lowest quartiles.
Increasing a state's minimum wage may be a policy option to consider as part of a comprehensive approach to reducing firearm suicides. These findings expand the evidence base for how economic policies may be leveraged to reduce firearm suicides.
枪支自杀是一个重大的公共卫生问题。加强经济安全和减少社区层面贫困的政策可能是降低枪支自杀风险的有效策略。本研究考察了州最低工资与枪支自杀之间的关联。
从坦普尔法律地图集获取并经法律研究补充的州最低工资，使用修正的凯茨指数和以联邦最低工资为中心的连续变量进行概念化。2000年至2020年国家生命统计系统的多死因死亡率数据提供了州一级的自杀人数。进行对数线性回归以模拟州最低工资与枪支自杀之间的关联，并按人口群体分层。分析于2023年进行。
一个州的修正凯茨指数每增加一个百分点，该州的枪支自杀率就会下降0.3%（95%置信区间为-0.6%至-0.0%）。一个州的最低工资比联邦最低工资每高出1美元，枪支自杀率就会下降1.4%（95%置信区间为-2.1%至-0.6%）。按枪支拥有量四分位数分层时，修正的凯茨指数与枪支自杀率下降的关联在最低的两个四分位数中最为一致。
提高一个州的最低工资可能是作为减少枪支自杀综合方法一部分而需考虑的政策选项。这些发现扩展了关于如何利用经济政策减少枪支自杀的证据基础。
