State-Level Data on Suicide Mortality During COVID-19 Quarantine: Early Evidence of a Disproportionate Impact on Racial Minorities

Thomas O Mitchell; Luming Li

doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113629

State-Level Data on Suicide Mortality During COVID-19 Quarantine: Early Evidence of a Disproportionate Impact on Racial Minorities

Psychiatry Res. 2021 Jan:295:113629. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113629. Epub 2020 Dec 3.

Authors

Thomas O Mitchell¹, Luming Li²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, 300 George St, Suite 901, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA. Electronic address: thomas.mitchell@yale.edu.
² Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, 300 George St, Suite 901, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA.

PMID: 33290944
DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113629

Abstract

The unprecedented impact of COVID-19 has raised concern for the potential of increased suicides due to a convergence of suicide risk factors. We obtained suicide mortality data to assess completed suicides during the period of strict stay-at-home quarantine measures in Connecticut and compared this data with previous years. While the total age-adjusted suicide mortality rate decreased by 13% during the lockdown period compared with the 5-year average, a significantly higher proportion of suicide decedents were from racial minority groups. This finding may provide early evidence of a disproportionate impact from the social and economic challenges of COVID-19 on minority populations.

Keywords: COVID-19; Health Equity; Suicide.

MeSH terms

Adult
COVID-19* / prevention & control
Cause of Death
Connecticut / ethnology
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Minority Groups / statistics & numerical data*
Quarantine / statistics & numerical data*
Racial Groups / ethnology*
Suicide, Completed / ethnology*