Simon and Masters Respond to “Do Small Cause-of-Death Correlations Throw into Question the Notion of a Collective “Deaths of Despair” Phenomenon?”

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel H Simon ◽  
Ryan K Masters
Keyword(s):  
Cause Of Death ◽  
Deaths Of Despair

Commercial Fishing as an Occupational Determinant of Opioid Overdoses and Deaths of Despair in Two Massachusetts Fishing Ports, 2000–2014

2021 ◽  
pp. 104829112110234
Author(s):  
Scott Fulmer ◽  
Shruti Jain ◽  
David Kriebel
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Cause Of Death ◽  
Death Certificate ◽  
The United States ◽  
Opioid Overdose ◽  
Commercial Fishing ◽  
Opioid Epidemic ◽  
Death Certificate Data ◽  
Deaths Of Despair

The opioid epidemic has had disproportionate effects across various sectors of the population, differentially impacting various occupations. Commercial fishing has among the highest rates of occupational fatalities in the United States. This study used death certificate data from two Massachusetts fishing ports to calculate proportionate mortality ratios of fatal opioid overdose as a cause of death in commercial fishing. Statistically significant proportionate mortality ratios revealed that commercial fishermen were greater than four times more likely to die from opioid poisoning than nonfishermen living in the same fishing ports. These important quantitative findings suggest opioid overdoses, and deaths to diseases of despair in general, deserve further study in prevention, particularly among those employed in commercial fishing.

Do Small Cause-of-Death Correlations Throw into Question the Notion of a Collective “Deaths of Despair” Phenomenon?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arjumand Siddiqi ◽  
Odmaa Sod-Erdene
Keyword(s):  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Drug Use ◽  
Cause Of Death ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Sharp Increase ◽  
Causes Of Death ◽  
Causal Mechanism ◽  
Technical Problems ◽  
Deaths Of Despair

Abstract Since the turn of the 21st century, during which White mortality has been rising, there has been a sharp increase in only three causes of death, drug use, alcohol use, and suicide. Because all three of these causes conjure notions of anguish and hopelessness, they have been conceptualized as a collective “deaths of despair” phenomenon. Simons and Masters challenge this conceptualization, by asking if these three causes are empirically associated with each other. Their analyses produce small correlations, which lead them to call into question that the three causes are part of a unified phenomenon. We contest their work on several grounds. Their analyses suffer from several technical problems, including the fact that, for any given year and cause of death, 65.8-97.6% of counties have death counts under 10. More fundamentally, it is unclear that we should expect these causes of death to rise and fall together, even if they are connected to a singular phenomenon. Instead, ‘despair’ may manifest differently in different places (i.e. these causes may be substitutes for each other). We argue that the best answer to the authors’ important question comes from assessing whether there is a common, despair-based causal mechanism underlying all three of them.

Wiser Reasoning and Less Disgust Have the Potential to Better Achieve Suicide Prevention

Crisis ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Chao S. Hu ◽  
Jiajia Ji ◽  
Jinhao Huang ◽  
Zhe Feng ◽  
Dong Xie ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Suicide Prevention ◽  
Cause Of Death ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Emotional Reaction ◽  
Suicide Method ◽  
University Teachers ◽  
Advice Giving ◽  
Prevention Techniques

Abstract. Background: High school and university teachers need to advise students against attempting suicide, the second leading cause of death among 15–29-year-olds. Aims: To investigate the role of reasoning and emotion in advising against suicide. Method: We conducted a study with 130 students at a university that specializes in teachers' education. Participants sat in front of a camera, videotaping their advising against suicide. Three raters scored their transcribed advice on "wise reasoning" (i.e., expert forms of reasoning: considering a variety of conditions, awareness of the limitation of one's knowledge, taking others' perspectives). Four registered psychologists experienced in suicide prevention techniques rated the transcripts on the potential for suicide prevention. Finally, using the software Facereader 7.1, we analyzed participants' micro-facial expressions during advice-giving. Results: Wiser reasoning and less disgust predicted higher potential for suicide prevention. Moreover, higher potential for suicide prevention was associated with more surprise. Limitations: The actual efficacy of suicide prevention was not assessed. Conclusion: Wise reasoning and counter-stereotypic ideas that trigger surprise probably contribute to the potential for suicide prevention. This advising paradigm may help train teachers in advising students against suicide, measuring wise reasoning, and monitoring a harmful emotional reaction, that is, disgust.

Child and Adolescent Suicide Deaths in New Mexico, 1990-1994

Crisis ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
DD Werenko ◽  
LM Olson ◽  
L Fullerton-Gleason ◽  
AW Lynch ◽  
RE Zumwalt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Mexico ◽  
Cause Of Death ◽  
American Indians ◽  
Adolescent Suicide ◽  
Suicide Attempts ◽  
Medical Examiner ◽  
Contributing Factors ◽  
Targeted Interventions ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Youth Activity

The suicide death rate in New Mexico is consistently higher than the national rate. Among adolescents, suicide is the third leading cause of death nationally, but in New Mexico it is the second leading cause of death. This study describes the pattern of adolescent suicide deaths in New Mexico. We conducted a retrospective review of all medical examiner autopsies for adolescent suicides (ages 20 years and younger) in New Mexico from 1990-1994. Records were reviewed for demographics and possible contributing factors such as depression, previous attempts, and alcohol and drug use. We identified 184 suicide deaths among children and adolescents ages 9-20 years for an overall rate of 12.9 per 100,000. Our rates for ages 5-9 years (0.2), 10-14 years (3.8), and 15-19 years (22.3) are over twice the U.S. rates. Suicide deaths resulted primarily from firearms (67%), hanging (16%), poisoning (6%), inhalation (4%), and other methods (7%). Method varied by ethnicity (p = .01) and gender (p = .03); males and non-Hispanic Whites were overrepresented among firearm deaths. Firearm ownership was known in 60 (48%) of the firearm deaths. Of these, 53% of the firearms belonged to a family member, 25% to the decedent, and 22% to a friend. Over one-third of decedents (41%) experienced mental disorders, primarily depressed mood and clinical depression. Previous suicide attempts were noted for 15% of the decedents. Some 50% of the decedents had alcohol or drugs present at the time of death; among American Indians/Alaska Natives, 74% had drugs or alcohol present (p = .003). Targeted interventions are needed to reduce adolescent suicide in New Mexico. We suggest raising awareness about acute and chronic contributing factors to suicide; training physicians to look for behavioral manifestations of depression; and involving physicians, teachers, and youth activity leaders in efforts to limit firearm accessibility, such as advising parents to remove firearms from their households.

How Valid are Patient Reports of Family History of Illness?

1980 ◽  
Vol 19 (03) ◽  
pp. 162-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Harris ◽  
W. Margaret ◽  
Kathleen Hunter
Keyword(s):  
Family History ◽  
Medical History ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Cause Of Death ◽  
Death Certificate ◽  
Recall Rate ◽  
Patient Reports ◽  
Small Subgroup ◽  
History Of ◽  
Medical Histories

The recall rate of patients’ family medical histories was studied in 200 cancer and non-cancer patients. Data on age and cause of death for parents and grandparents were collected. Although most patients knew the age and cause of death of parents, less than half knew for grandparents. Cancer patients had significantly greater recall for maternally related relatives. A subsample of patients’ family medical histories was compared to death certificate data. Patients’ reports were found to be highly inaccurate. Since only a small subgroup could provide medical history data for grandparents, the generaliz-ability for history of family illness is questioned.

Massive retroperitoneal haematoma because of renal cyst rupture, report of a case

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Óscar Alonso Plaza ◽  
Carlos Andrés González ◽  
Ana María Mantilla ◽  
Brayan Andrés Puentes
Keyword(s):  
Cause Of Death ◽  
Renal Cyst ◽  
Retroperitoneal Haematoma ◽  
Pathological Correlation ◽  
Bibliographic Search ◽  
Cyst Rupture

An exhaustive investigation is carried out on the cause of death of this pedestrian, carrying out an extensive bibliographic search taking into account the pathophysiology of trauma for this type of accident, and then making a clinical-pathological correlation of the series of events that concluded with the death of this person and its applicability in trauma services.

Homicide in Scotland, 1800–1849: Numbers and Theories (2)

2019 ◽  
Vol 98 (2) ◽  
pp. 214-240
Author(s):  
W. W. J. Knox
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Cause Of Death ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Private Sphere ◽  
The Public ◽  
Common Location ◽  
Spontaneous Action

This article challenges a series of orthodox propositions put forward by historians writing on the decline in homicide levels over the last three hundred years. Firstly, there was a decline in impulsive violence; secondly, there was a shift from stranger to intimate killing; and thirdly, there was a transition of the site of murder from the public to the private sphere. It will be argued that murder remained a mainly spontaneous action, a response to highly charged or impassioned insults and words, sometimes alcohol-fuelled and while the killing of spouses and other immediate family members increased over the course of 150 years (1700–1849), the pattern established in the second half of the eighteenth century was hardly disturbed since most victims were known to their assailants as family, friends or workmates. Stranger killing became more commonly associated with drunken brawls in taverns or in the streets; homicides that involved premeditative action, such as robbery, were rarely the cause of death. It is also clear that the street rather than the home was the most common location, again reflecting the spontaneous and opportunistic character of homicide.

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