CDC says authors 'revisiting' highly cited study on suicide rates
A highly cited study broke down suicide rates by occupation, including farmers.
The Centers for Disease Control says that researchers are revisiting a highly cited study of suicide rates by occupation – including farmers – that was published in 2016, saying that problems with the data could have led to inaccurate findings.
Multiple news organizations, including ABC News, and lawmakers cited the study's findings that farmers faced higher-than-average suicide rates.
But the CDC office that manages information related to injuries and deaths in the U.S. said the authors informed them some of the results could be inaccurate and are going through a "thorough reanalysis" of the data.
The CDC did not specify what the errors were or how they could impact the final findings.
"CDC is committed to quality and is working to meet our usual standards for excellence. The scientific authors are working diligently to reanalyze and publish corrected data. We apologize for the errors in the report. Suicide is a serious public health problem that can have lasting harmful effects on individuals, families, and communities," Courtney Lenard, a spokeswoman for the CDC injury center said in a statement.
ABC News will update as further information about the study becomes available.
