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Health Indicator Report of Suicide

From 2020 to 2022, the age-adjusted suicide rate in Utah was 20.85 per 100,000 persons, with an average of 670 suicides per year. There were 717 suicide deaths in 2022. In 2022, suicide was the leading cause of death for Utahns ages 10 to 17 and 18-24. It was the second leading cause of death for ages 25 to 44 and the fifth leading cause of death for ages 45-64. Overall, suicide was the tenth leading cause of death for Utahns (age-adjusted rate). Suicide deaths are only part of the problem. More people are hospitalized or treated in emergency rooms for suicide attempts than are fatally injured. In 2022, 12 Utahns were treated for self-inflicted injuries every day (3,121 treat-and-release emergency department visits plus 1,311 total hospitalizations). According to the 2021 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, in the 12 months preceding the survey, Utah high school students reported the following: 41.5% felt sad or hopeless, 22.5% seriously considered attempting suicide, 18% made a suicide plan, 9% attempted suicide one or more times, and 2.7% had a suicide attempt that required medical attention. The 2023 Prevention Needs Assessment data indicate that overall, 27% of Utah students in grades 8, 10, and 12 reported experiencing serious mental illness. Students were also asked social isolation questions and reported the following: 14.2% felt moderately socially isolated and 9.2% felt severely socially isolated. Additionally, 7.3% reported having attempted suicide in the past year and 18.9% reported having seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year. All suicide attempts should be taken seriously. Suicide attempt survivors are often seriously injured, are likely to have depression and/or another mental health disorder, and are at an increased risk for suicide. Suicidal behavior is a serious and complex public health issue that takes an enormous toll on communities with both economical and human costs.

Suicide by Local Health District, Utah 2020-2022 and U.S. 2019-2021

Notes

*Use caution in interpreting, the estimate has a relative standard error greater than 30% and does not meet DHHS standards for reliability. Suicides are determined using ICD-10 codes X60-X84, Y87.0, *U03.

Data Sources

  • Utah Death Certificate Database, Office of Vital Records and Statistics, Utah Department of Health and Human Services
  • For years 2020 and later, the population estimates are provided by the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, Utah state and county annual population estimates are by single year of age and sex, IBIS Version 2022
  • National Center for Injury Prevention and Control's Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS)

Data Interpretation Issues

ICD stands for the International Classification of Diseases. It is a coding system maintained by the World Health Organization and the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics used to classify causes of death, such as suicide, on death certificates. These codes are updated every decade or so to account for advances in medical technology. The U.S. is currently using the 10th revision (ICD-10) to code causes of death and hospital emergency department visits. The Youth Risk Behavior Survey includes surveys of representative samples of 9th-12th grade students in public schools. The survey is conducted in odd years. Data are self-reported and subject to recall bias. Data are from a sample survey and subject to selection bias. Comparisons of annual rates must be interpreted cautiously as methods used to collect data vary from year to year. With the introductions of active parental consent for Utah school surveys between 1997 and 1999, the student response rate for the survey decreased significantly. Participation in 2015 was too low to meet the reporting threshold as defined by CDC, so results for that year are not available.

Definition

Suicide Death Rate: Number of resident deaths resulting from the intentional use of force against oneself per 100,000 population (ICD-10 codes X60-X84, Y87.0, *U03). Suicide Risk Among Students: Percentage of students who reported a suicide risk factor (felt sad or hopeless, seriously considered attempting suicide, made a suicide plan, or attempted suicide) during the past 12 months.

Numerator

Suicide Death Rate: Number of deaths resulting from the intentional use of force against oneself. Suicide Risk Among Students: Number of students who reported a suicide risk factor (felt sad or hopeless, seriously considered attempting suicide, made a suicide plan, or attempted suicide) during the past 12 months.

Denominator

Suicide Death Rate: Total number of persons in the population of Utah. Suicide Risk Among Students: Number of surveyed Utah high school students.

Other Objectives

{{style color:#003366 Healthy People 2030 Objective IVP-41:}}[[br]] Reduce emergency department visits for nonfatal intentional self-harm injuries[[br]] '''U.S. Target:''' 144.7 emergency department visits per 100,000 population[[br]] '''State Target:''' 91.7 emergency department visits per 100,000 population[[br]] [[br]] {{style color:#003366 Healthy People 2030 Objective MHMD-2:}}[[br]] Reduce suicide attempts by adolescents[[br]] '''U.S. Target:''' 1.8 suicide attempts per 100 population[[br]] '''State Target:''' 1.9 suicide attempts per 100 population

How Are We Doing?

The 2022 Utah age-adjusted suicide rate was 21.9 per 100,000 population. Males (34.1 per 100,000 population) had a significantly higher age-adjusted suicide rate compared to females (9.7 per 100,000 population). In Utah from 2020 to 2022, males had significantly higher suicide rates than females in every age group. Males aged 45-54 had the highest suicide rates among males (49 per 100,000 population). Females aged 45-54 had the highest suicide rates among female age groups (18.1 per 100,000 population). From 2020 to 2022, TriCounty, Central Utah, Southwest, and Weber-Morgan local health districts had significantly higher age-adjusted suicide rates compared to the state rate. Among Utah Small Areas, Duchesne County, Central (Other), South Salt Lake, Southwest LHD (Other), Daggett and Uintah County, and Salt Lake City (Downtown) had significantly higher age-adjusted suicide rates compared to the state rate during 2018-2022.

How Do We Compare With the U.S.?

The Utah suicide rate has been consistently higher than the national rate. In 2021 (the most recent national-level data year available, data from the National Center for Health Statistics), the age-adjusted suicide rate for the U.S. was 14.04 per 100,000 population, while the Utah suicide rate was 20.05 per 100,000 population during the same year. Utah had the 14th-highest age-adjusted suicide rate in the U.S. in 2021.

What Is Being Done?

The Utah Department of Health and Human Services Violence and Injury Prevention Program (VIPP) is funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to implement the Utah Violent Death Reporting System (UTVDRS). UTVDRS is a data collection and monitoring system that will help Utahns to better understand the public health problem of violence by informing decision-makers about the magnitude, trends, and characteristics of violent deaths such as suicide, and to evaluate and continue to improve state-based violence prevention policies and programs. Data are collected from the Office of the Medical Examiner, Vital Records, and law enforcement agencies and are linked together to help identify risk factors, understand circumstances, and better characterize perpetrators of violent deaths. The VIPP is also funded by the CDC to improve the timeliness of syndromic surveillance data of nonfatal suicide-related outcomes, including nonfatal self-directed violence and suicidal ideation. The VIPP partners with multiple state and local agencies including the Division of Substance and Mental Health (DSAMH), the Utah State Board of Education, the Office of the Medical Examiner, the National Alliance on Mental Illness Utah, local health departments, and many others to facilitate and build capacity for suicide prevention efforts across the state. VIPP also participates in the Utah Suicide Prevention Coalition, a state-level multi-sectoral group, and its seven workgroups that focus on specific populations and topic areas.

Available Services

All Counties, 24 Hours: [[br]] Suicide Crisis Lifeline at 988 Safe UT App Mobile Crisis Outreach Team (MCOT) - for both Salt Lake County and statewide[[br]] 801-587-3000 The Trevor Project Trans Lifeline, (877) 565-8860 Live on Utah National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Utah American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Utah Poison Control Center

Health Program Information

The mission of the Violence and Injury Prevention Program (VIPP) is to be a trusted and comprehensive resource for data and technical assistance related to violence and injury. Through education, this information helps promote partnerships and programs to prevent injuries and improve public health. The VIPP envisions a Utah where communities thrive and Utahns feel connected, safe, and supported. To realize this vision and mission, VIPP's strategic plan utilizes a Shared Risk and Protective Factor framework that includes interventions across the Social Ecological Model including primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention strategies. As such, VIPP has identified these super factors that will guide their work over the next five-plus years: * Healthcare Access: Improve access and utilization to physical and behavioral healthcare. * Economic Stability: Improve socio-economic conditions for Utahns. * Social Norms: Encourage social norms that promote safety and health. * Built Environment: Enhance the physical environment to improve safe and healthy living. * Connectedness: Promote individual, family, and community connectedness.
Page Content Updated On 03/05/2024, Published on 03/05/2024
The information provided above is from the Utah Department of Health and Human Services IBIS-PH web site (http://ibis.health.state.gov). The information published on this website may be reproduced without permission. Please use the following citation: " Retrieved Mon, 18 March 2024 22:40:48 from Utah Department of Health and Human Services, Indicator-Based Information System for Public Health Web site: http://ibis.health.state.gov ".

Content updated: Tue, 5 Mar 2024 16:35:00 MST