Tiago Costa1, Fernando Passos2, Cristina Queiros3. 1. Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. 2. Psychology Unit of the Portuguese National Police, Lisbon, Portugal. 3. Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Porto, Portugal.
Abstract
Background: Police officers, as first responders to difficult situations with ready access to firearms, are frequently considered to be at increased suicide risk. Aims: We aimed to calculate the suicide rate for male officers of the Portuguese National Police (PSP) and compare it with the Portuguese general population. Method: Retrospective review of the PSP male officers' suicides between 2005 and 2014 and comparison with the suicide rate for the general Portuguese population, adjusted for sex and age. Results: A total of 39 suicides were identified, with 34 using a firearm - mostly the service one (30 cases). The average truncated (20-59 years) suicide rate for male officers was 20.6 per 100,000 person-years (95% CI =14.2-27.1). Over the same period, the rate for the general Portuguese population was 13.9 per 100,000 person-years (95% CI = 13.5-14.3). The standardized rate ratio was 1.5 (95% CI = 0.9-2.4). Limitations: Despite the 10-year period of observation, this is a small sample and there are issues with missing data, such as lack of information for retired or dismissed police officers. Denominators were converted to estimates of person-years observations and we should be mindful of the limitations in the validity of the reported rates. Conclusion: Portuguese male police officers mostly die by suicide using service firearms. The suicide rates among them were not statistically different from those of the sex- and age-adjusted general population. However, given that police officers are healthy workers, we would expect lower rates - thus, similar rates could suggest an increased risk in the study sample.
Background: Police officers, as first responders to difficult situations with ready access to firearms, are frequently considered to be at increased suicide risk. Aims: We aimed to calculate the suicide rate for male officers of the Portuguese National Police (PSP) and compare it with the Portuguese general population. Method: Retrospective review of the PSP male officers' suicides between 2005 and 2014 and comparison with the suicide rate for the general Portuguese population, adjusted for sex and age. Results: A total of 39 suicides were identified, with 34 using a firearm - mostly the service one (30 cases). The average truncated (20-59 years) suicide rate for male officers was 20.6 per 100,000 person-years (95% CI =14.2-27.1). Over the same period, the rate for the general Portuguese population was 13.9 per 100,000 person-years (95% CI = 13.5-14.3). The standardized rate ratio was 1.5 (95% CI = 0.9-2.4). Limitations: Despite the 10-year period of observation, this is a small sample and there are issues with missing data, such as lack of information for retired or dismissed police officers. Denominators were converted to estimates of person-years observations and we should be mindful of the limitations in the validity of the reported rates. Conclusion: Portuguese male police officers mostly die by suicide using service firearms. The suicide rates among them were not statistically different from those of the sex- and age-adjusted general population. However, given that police officers are healthy workers, we would expect lower rates - thus, similar rates could suggest an increased risk in the study sample.
Authors: Silvana Maselli; Antonio Del Casale; Elena Paoli; Maurizio Pompili; Sergio Garbarino Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2022-05-12 Impact factor: 4.614
Authors: Cristina Queirós; Fernando Passos; Ana Bártolo; António José Marques; Carlos Fernandes da Silva; Anabela Pereira Journal: Front Psychol Date: 2020-05-07
Authors: Dejan R Veljković; Natasa K Rancic; Momčilo R Mirković; Ljiljana M Kulić; Veroslava V Stanković; Ljubomir S Stefanović; Marko M Stojanović; Miloš V Mirković; Slađana M Ðurić; Danijela Z Ilić Journal: Front Public Health Date: 2021-05-07