2021 Veteran Suicide Mortality Study : follow-up period from 1975 to 2016

2021

Date published: December 2021

Research summary

Researching Veteran suicide is an important part of supporting prevention efforts. Veterans Affairs Canada partnered with the Department of National Defence and Statistics Canada for this study.

What is this research about?

The study linked military career records of former Canadian Armed Forces members to death records at Statistics Canada. Using various statistical tests, the researchers compared suicide risks in male and female Veterans to the Canadian general population and examined trends over time. The study examined over 250,000 Veterans released from the Canadian Armed Forces over a 42-year time period (1975 to 2016).

What did the researchers find?

Over the entire 42-year observation period (1975 to 2016), the risk of suicide for both male and female Veterans was observed to be consistently higher than in the Canadian general population. The observed risk of suicide has neither increased nor decreased significantly over this 42 year period.

Male Veterans

  • The majority of Veterans were male (89%)
  • The rate of suicide in male Veterans was 2 times higher than that of female Veterans
  • Overall male Veterans had a 1.5 times higher risk of dying by suicide compared to other male Canadians
  • The risk of suicide was higher for younger male Veterans and decreased with age. Compared to males of the same age in the Canadian General Population, the risk of suicide was:
    • 2.5 times higher for Veterans under 30 years of age;
    • 11% lower for Veterans aged 50-59; and
    • 42% lower for Veterans over 60 years of age.

Female Veterans

  • Overall female Veterans had a 2 times higher risk of dying by suicide than other female Canadians.
  • This risk of suicide in female Veterans did not change with age, in contrast to male Veterans.

International Comparisons

  • Studies in the United States (US), Australia and the United Kingdom (UK) have also found that young male Veterans are at the highest risk of suicide.
  • Suicide rates among male Veterans in both Canada and Australia have remained stable over time, whereas the rates have increased in the US and decreased in the UK.
  • Compared to the general population, male Veterans in Canada, Australia and the US have higher rates of suicide; and those in the UK have lower rates of suicide.
  • Compared to the general population, female Veterans in Canada, Australia and the US have higher rates suicide (UK rates not available due to low numbers).

Article source:

VanTil L, Kopp A, Heber A. 2021 Veteran Suicide Mortality Study; Follow-up period 1975 to 2016. Charlottetown (PE): Veterans Affairs Canada, Research Directorate Technical Report; 31 December, 2021. 
https://publications.gc.ca/site/eng/9.908533/publication.html

Date modified: