The modal suicide decedent did not consume alcohol just prior to the time of death: An analysis with implications for understanding suicidal behavior

Abstract

We identified and analyzed a total of 92 studies, representing 167,894 suicide decedents, to determine if there is evidence to support what appears to be a widely held cultural, clinical, and scholarly view that many people who die by suicide had been drinking at the time of death. It was determined that, based on weighted averages, approximately 27% of suicide decedents had above-zero blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) at the time of death. We emphasize that it was not 27% who were intoxicated at the time of death; rather, 27% had above-zero BACs and 73% had BACs of 0.00%. Among studies of suicide decedents, BACs differed as a function of race (higher in non-White individuals). We conclude that the role of alcohol use at the time of death may be less than some assume, and this interpretation can inform clinical practice and theories of suicide. Important unanswered questions are posed which will help refine research in this area going forward.