Sociodemographic, Alcohol Use, and Other Toxicologic Characteristics of Train Suicides in 16 States: Results from the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS), 2005 to 2011

Train suicides are estimated to account for at least 1 in 4 deaths involving impact with a train in the United States. These violent events can result in psychological trauma for many people beyond family members. Few studies exist in the US on sociodemographic and environmental risk factors for train suicide. This study seeks to define population characteristics of train suicide decedents using the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS). Data for 16 states from 2005 to 2011 were examined. Narratives were independently coded for means of death. Frequencies and percentages were calculated for sociodemographic and toxicologic variables. Chi-square tests were performed to assess differences by sex. Results were compared with all suicides from the NVDRS from 2005 to 2010. Four hundred seventy-nine train suicide decedents were identified, comprising 0.7% of all suicides (N=68,340) in the NVDRS from 2005 to 2011. Most decedents were pedestrians (94%), white (74%), male (76%), single (54%), and younger than 55 years old (88%). Eighty-six percent were tested for alcohol, 39% of whom tested positive. Women were significantly more likely to test positive for antidepressants. Train suicide decedents tended to be younger than all suicide decedents in the NVDRS, and a higher proportion was single (54% versus 30%, respectively). Sociodemographic characteristics of train suicide decedents in the United States are similar to those in the international literature. A substantial portion has acute alcohol and/or drug use. Broader implementation of proven, effective strategies to prevent suicide by any means might help reduce train suicides.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AR070 Railroad Operational Safety.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Sung, Jonathan C
  • Shults, Ruth A
  • Bhat, Geeta L
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 94th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2015-1-11 to 2015-1-15
• Date: 2015

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: References; Tables;
• Pagination: 13p
• Monograph Title: TRB 94th Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Age groups; Alcohol use; Gender; Pedestrians; Railroad safety; Suicide; Toxicology
• Identifier Terms: National Violent Death Reporting System
• Uncontrolled Terms: Sociodemographics
• Geographic Terms: United States
• Subject Areas: Railroads; Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01556956
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 15-3198
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Mar 14 2015 3:59PM