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Abstract
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Every death by suicide is a tragedy, with a devastating effect on friends and family. Within the Armed Forces, this impact also extends across the unit and wider serving community. In total, 287 regular UK service personnel have died by suicide in the last 20 years, between 2003 and 2022, with a further 29 deaths awaiting an inquest.1 The human suffering is immeasurable.
During the last 20-year period, the age-standardised suicide rate for men is 8 per 100 000 service personnel, with the Royal Air Force rate being lowest at 5 per 100 000 and highest in the Army with 10 per 100 000.1 To be truly informative, these rates need to be considered in context. Defence Statistics (Health) use standardised mortality ratios (SMRs) to compare suicide data against the UK general population, with analysis restricted to male deaths due to very small numbers of female suicides, and between 2003 and 2022 the overall Armed Forces were at a statistically significant lower risk of suicide.1 In recent years, however, the suicide rate for Army men has increased. The latest 3-year SMR analysis, up to 2021, highlights that the risk for Army men is no longer significantly different to the UK comparator. Furthermore, in the latest 5-year period, young men in the Army aged 20-24 years were at higher risk than those of the same age in the general population.1
Comparison with international allies can also provide useful insight into suicide, although direct analysis is complicated by different methodologies. The Canadian Armed Forces report a 5-year male suicide rate of 24.5 per 100 000 between 2015 and 2019, and in comparison to the Canadian population, again using SMRs, there was no statistically significant difference.2 The US Department of Defense reports an unadjusted rate for active …
Language: en |