Alcohol Use Associated With Suicide, Especially in Minorities

June 19, 2009— -- Alcohol plays a significant role in suicide, especially among Hispanics and American Indian and Alaska Natives, according to new data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In a new study, researchers led by Dr. Alex Crosby of the CDC's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control looked at the cases of suicide reported in 17 states in 2005 and 2006. They found that of those suicide victims tested whose blood alcohol levels were tested after their death, nearly a quarter had levels above the legal limit for driving a car.

They reported their findings in the June 19 issue of Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report.

The percentage of suicides with high blood alcohol levels was greatest among American Indian/Alaska Natives at 37 percent, followed by 29 percent for Hispanics -- findings that hold implications for culturally specific intervention programs, Crosby said.

"Alcohol is connected to suicides across all [racial and ethnic] groups," he said. "When programs try to address suicide prevention, they should definitely include alcohol as one component."

Alcohol has long been a known risk factor in suicide, said Dr. Eric Caine, chair of psychiatry at the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, N.Y.

But the study is unique because it examines the role of alcohol in suicides across all ethnic groups -- data that has been limited in prior studies, Crosby said.

"This is a really important paper because it underscores how much a common risk factor such as drinking contributes to something like suicide," Caine said. "Here's more data on how something like alcohol is fuel on the fire, and we need to ask ourselves what we are going to do about it."

To examine the relationship between alcohol and suicide among racial and ethnic groups, the researchers looked at data from the National Violent Death Reporting System from 2005 through 2006.

There were a total of 18,994 suicides in the 17 states that contributed to the database, and about 70 percent of those who committed suicide had been tested for alcohol.

Among those, the overall prevalence of alcohol intoxication was about 24 percent, and the highest percentage occurred among American Indian/Alaska natives, then Hispanics, and among patients of all ethnic groups between 20 and 49 years old (28 percent).