Standardizing an assessment process currently used by doctors during care discussions with veterans at risk for suicide in other context could shed more light on the risks related to firearms and opioids.
The findings, from researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine, are reported in JAMA Network Open. The researchers find that fewer veterans reported having access to firearms than expected—either because some didn’t mention it to their doctor, it wasn’t recorded by the provider, or because the true prevalence is lower among this high-risk group.
The research is led by Gabriela Khazanov, a research associate with the Penn Center for Mental Health and research psychologist with the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center (VA).
“Veterans have high rates of firearm ownership but may not always share this with their provider as part of suicide safety planning,” Khazanov says. “Some may worry, incorrectly, that their firearms would be confiscated, or their care would be impacted in some way, highlighting the importance of explaining the rationale for these discussions and describing any potential consequences, however unlikely, of firearm disclosure.”
Among veterans, firearm injury accounts for 72% of suicides and poisoning, typically by overdose, accounts for 8% of suicides among veterans, respectively, with suicides due to opioid overdose nearly tripling over the last 20 years.
Read more at Penn Medicine News.
