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Table 5 Cross-county associations between suicide rates (total and method-specific) and household firearm ownership and antidepressants prescription rates, 2001-2005

From: Explaining geographic patterns of suicide in the US: the role of firearms and antidepressants

 

All suicide

Firearm suicide

Nonfirearm suicide

 

IRR*

95% CI

P-value

IRR*

95% CI

P-value

IRR*

95% CI

P-value

Crude analyses

         

NonTCA^:TCA ratio

0.90

(0.86, 0.93)

<.0001

0.80

(0.75, 0.86)

<.0001

1.00

(0.96, 1.04)

0.9867

Multivariate analyses

         

Household firearm ownership

1.23

(1.18, 1.28)

<.0001

1.60

(1.52, 1.70)

<.0001

1.00

(0.95, 1.05)

0.9658

NonTCA^:TCA ratio

1.01

(0.96, 1.06)

0.6820

1.01

(0.95, 1.08)

0.7400

1.03

(0.97, 1.09)

0.3802

% Population living in urban area

0.98

(0.94, 1.02)

0.3824

0.92

(0.87, 0.97)

0.0019

1.03

(0.98, 1.08)

0.3042

Median income

0.92

(0.87, 0.96)

0.0005

0.87

(0.81, 0.93)

<.0001

0.95

(0.90, 1.01)

0.0997

Unemployment rate

0.96

(0.93, 1.00)

0.0453

0.97

(0.92, 1.02)

0.2156

0.95

(0.91, 0.99)

0.0279

  1. *IRR for Household Firearm Ownership and Antidepressant Prescriptions are the relative increase in suicides for one standard deviation away.
  2. ^Non-TCA are primarily SSRIs (SNRIs constitute the second most commonly prescribed class).
  3. Abbreviations: IRR, Incidence Rate Ratio; CI, Confidence Intervals; TCA, Tricyclic Antidepressants from the mean rate.