A U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs study followed a group of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans until 2009. Both deployed and non-deployed veterans had a higher suicide risk compared to the U.S. general population, the study found.
These are ten other facts that the study found:
Deployed veterans had a 41 percent higher suicide risk compared to the general U.S. population.
Non-deployed veterans had a 61 percent higher suicide risk compared to the general U.S. population.
Deployed veterans had a 25 percent lower overall risk of death from all causes compared to the general U.S. population.
Non-deployed veterans had a 24 percent lower risk of death from all causes compared to the general U.S. population.
Deployed: 317,581 total veterans, 1,650 total deaths. 21.3 percent death by suicide. 78.7 percent death by other causes.
Non-deployed: 964,493 total veterans, 7,703 total deaths. 19.7 percent death by suicide. 80.3 percent death by other causes.
Deployed veterans showed a lower risk of suicide compared to non-deployed veterans.
Female veteran suicide rates were about a third of the suicide rate of male veterans. Suicide rate of female veterans: 11.2 out of 100,000 veterans. Suicide rate of male veterans: 33.4 out of 100,000 veterans.Deployed all deaths: 68 deaths among females, 1,582 deaths among males.
Non-deployed all deaths: 738 deaths among females, 6,965 deaths among males. Deployed suicides: 15 suicides among females, 336 suicides among males. Non-deployed suicides: 109 suicides among females, 1,408 suicides among males.
Within 6 years since discharge, 27.3 suicide rate by non-deployed veterans, 24.7 suicide rate by deployed veterans. Within 9 years since discharge, 25.6 suicide rate by non-deployed veterans, 26.1 suicide rate by deployed veterans.
