Building a Comprehensive Biopsychosocial Database to Identify Underlying Causes of Suicide and Improve Suicide...

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Forensic Science
• Mental Health Research

Background:

• The US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) launched an initiative in June 2022 to decrease suicide deaths among US Veterans.
• The US medicolegal death investigation system, comprising 3137 coroner/medical examiner offices, investigates unattended, suspicious, or unexplained deaths, including all suicides.
• This system annually costs taxpayers approximately $660 million and identifies around 45,000 suicide deaths each year.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a pilot program within the VA system for establishing a central database of biological samples collected during death investigations.
• To leverage this data to better understand the biopsychosocial factors contributing to suicide.
• To develop a scalable model for suicide prevention research and intervention.

Main Methods:

• The proposal outlines an initial pilot phase within a select group of VA medical centers.
• Subsequent expansion to the entire VA system is planned.
• The initiative aims to utilize existing data collection infrastructure within the medicolegal death investigation system.

Main Results:

• Currently, demographic data from death investigations are reported to the CDC, but biological samples are largely unused beyond determining the cause of death.
• The proposed central database would enable comprehensive analysis of biological and demographic data related to suicide.
• This approach could provide unprecedented insights into the complex causes of suicide.

Conclusions:

• Establishing a central database for biological samples from suicide death investigations is crucial for advancing suicide prevention research.
• A phased implementation, starting with a VA pilot program, can serve as a model for broader application within the US medicolegal death investigation system.
• This initiative holds the potential to significantly reduce suicide rates in Veterans and the general population.