The New York Times (4/22, Barry) reports a study found that since the 2022 rollout of the 988 national suicide prevention hotline, “the rate of suicides among young people in the United States dropped 11 percent below projections, decreasing most sharply in states with a higher volume of answered 988 calls.” The study “compared suicide deaths from July 2022 to December 2024 with sophisticated mathematical projections that were based on historical trends. This yielded good news, with 4,372 fewer suicides of adolescents and young adults, ages 15 to 34, than had been projected.” According to the findings, “the 10 states with the largest increases in 988 calls experienced an 18.2 percent reduction in observed suicides compared with expected suicides; in the 10 states with the lowest uptake, the reduction was smaller, 10.6 percent.” The findings were published in a research letter in JAMA.
MedPage Today (4/22, Firth) adds that the study authors “conducted multiple sensitivity analyses, one of which found an expected significantly smaller decline in suicide mortality among adults 65 and older after the launch of the lifeline (-4.5%).” Furthermore, “modeling that excluded the period of the COVID pandemic from the baseline model showed that suicide deaths among individuals ages 15 to 34 remained lower than expected based on trends before the initiation of the lifeline.”
The American Journal of Managed Care (4/22, Grossi) reports the findings “align with prior evidence showing that individuals who contact crisis lifelines often experience immediate reductions in suicidal ideation.” The study “also highlights emerging challenges, including the recent elimination of specialized 988 services for LGBTQ+ youth, a group that previously accounted for approximately 10% of Lifeline contacts. This change could reduce access to care for a particularly vulnerable population.”
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— The New York Times (requires login and subscription)