Work

Deaths Attributed to Psychiatric Disorders in the United States, 2010–2018

Year: 2020

Type: article

Abstract: Objectives. To quantify deaths in the United States from 2010 through 2018 that were reported with an underlying cause of death as a psychiatric diagnosis, which do not indicate a clear mechanism of death, and that may be misclassified suicide and overdose deaths. Methods. We used national vital statistics data to identify rates and circumstances of deaths by specific underlying cause of death categories in the US population. Results. There were 115 442 deaths attributed to psychiatric diagnoses and 834 763 deaths attributed to suicide or overdose. The population rate of deaths attributed to psychiatric diagnoses increased from 3.26 to 4.96 per 100 000 US persons between 2010 and 2018. Conclusions. Psychiatric diagnoses may represent a fairly substantial number of misclassified overdose and suicide deaths. Improving mortality surveillance requires improving the accuracy of diagnoses reported on death certificates.

Source: American Journal of Public Health

DOI: 10.2105/ajph.2020.305923

Authors: Amy S. B. Bohnert, Srijan Sen

Institutions: University of Michigan, Michigan Medicine, VA Center for Clinical Management Research

Language: English

Topic: Suicide and Self-Harm Studies

Subfield: Clinical Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

OpenAlex ID: W3093306286

FWCI: 0.187

Cites: 4

Cited by: 5

Related to: 10