Transgendered Veterans More Likely To Commit Suicide

Statistics show that veterans are at an increased risk to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which can increase the risk of suicide. Yet a new study published in the journal LGBT Health examines how transgendered veterans are at an even higher suicide risk than non-transgendered counterparts.

For the study, researchers examined data from the VA National Patient Care Data Database from 2000 to 2009. Lead study author John Blosnich, PhD, MPH and coauthors from VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System and the University of Pittsburgh (PA), University of Rochester (NY), VA Central Office (Washington, DC), East Tennessee State University (Johnson City, TN), and VISN2 Center of Excellence for Suicide Prevention (Canandaigua, NY), found that suicide death rates were higher among veterans with transgendered-related diagnoses than those similar to the suicide death rate of veterans suffering serious mental illnesses, such as depression or schizophrenia.

"Although this study suggests comparably elevated rates of suicide among veterans with transgender-related ICD-9-CM diagnoses and veterans with any psychiatric diagnosis, suicides among transgender veterans occurred at a younger age, resulting in greater potential years of life lost," said LGBT Health Editor-in-Chief William Byne, MD, PhD, James J. Peters VA Medical Center, Bronx, NY and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, in a news release. "VA has a multifaceted strategy to reduce suicide among veterans. Its commitment in 2011, and reaffirmed in 2013, to provide respectful transgender-specific healthcare as well staff training in transgender cultural awareness and sensitivity may also address the high suicide rate among transgender veterans."

For more great science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).