Geography, rurality, and community distress: deaths due to suicide, alcohol-use, and drug-use among Colorado Veterans

Table 1 Comparison of suicide, alcohol-related, and drug-related mortality rates between all Colorado residents at 18 + and Colorado Veterans, 2009–2020

Mortality type	Colorado adult population^a		Colorado Veteran population^b		Rate ratio^d
Mortality type	Number of deaths	Age- and race-adjusted rate 95% CI per 100,000	Number of deaths^c	Age- and race-adjusted rate 95% CI per 100,000	Rate ratio^d
Overall	43,220	85.8 (84.9–86.6)	6885	153.7 (149.5–158.0)	1.8
Suicide^e	12,643	24.4 (23.9–24.8)	2336	52.3 (49.9–54.8)	2.1
Alcohol-related	22,239	44.2 (43.6–44.9)	3805	81.4 (78.4–84.5)	1.8
Drug-related^e	14,423	28.2 (27.7–28.7)	1403	37.2 (35.1–39.4)	1.3

^aCounts taken from CDC Wonder 2009–2020 Multiple Cause-of-Death data, age-adjusted rates calculated using 2015 American Community Survey Population estimates as denominator and 2000 US census population as the standard population
^bCounts provided by Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Vital Statistics Program. Age-adjusted rates calculated using 2015 American Community Survey Population estimates as denominator and 2000 US census population as the standard population
^cVeterans with unknown or missing race (n = 63) were excluded from this analysis to calculate race adjustment
^dRate ratio compares age-adjusted rate in Colorado Veteran Population to Colorado Adult Population
^eAI/AN, Asian, and Black groups combined for age- and race-adjusted rates since cell sizes were < 5 for Asian/Pacific Islander (API), American Indian/Alaskan Native (AIAN) and Black aged 65 + (suicide) and API and AI/AN 65+ (drug)

ISSN: 2197-1714