Descriptive Analysis of Air Force Non-Fatal Suicide Events

Abstract

Abstract : As a component of the Air Force Suicide Prevention Program, the Suicide Event Surveillance System (SESS) was developed in response to a peak in 1994 in the number of Active Duty Air Force (ADAF) suicides (16.4 per 100,000). The Suicide Event Surveillance System serves as the primary suicide event surveillance mechanism and is used to track all fatal and non-fatal suicide events (NFSE) that occur among Active Duty Air Force and related populations. Although all fatal suicides are reported, the purpose of this study is to assess the completeness and accuracy of non-fatal suicide event data in the Suicide Event Surveillance System. A listing of all non-fatal suicide events that occurred between 1 January 2003 and 30 June 2005 was exported from the Suicide Event Surveillance System and compared to outpatient and inpatient medical visit data. There was substantial variability and under reporting of non-fatal suicide events in all surveillance databases. Although the Suicide Event Surveillance System is the primary surveillance tool for suicide events, less than 60% of all recorded non-fatal suicide events were actually documented in this database. These results indicate that extreme caution should be exercised in utilizing and interpreting the non-fatal suicide event data in the Suicide Event Surveillance System, and highlight the need for improvement in non-fatal suicide event reporting.