11–20 of 211 posts
I've only read the abstract (so I don't know if my question is answered somewhere in the full report), but does anyone have any insight about why newer data wasn't included in this study?
"Together, the stray statistics and stories about life out west tipped off Renshaw to a common culprit: altitude-induced oxygen depletion. [...] Renshaw believes that oxygen-poor air tampers with brain chemistry, leading to a drop in serotonin and an uptick in dopamine."
> Controlling for percent of age >50 yr, percent male, percent white, median household income, and population density of each county, the higher-altitude counties had significantly higher suicide rates than the lower-altitude counties. Similar findings were observed for both firearm-related suicides (59% of suicides) and nonfirearm-related suicides.
So (median) income has been considered, in case anyone is wondering.
I haven't dug into their controls, but it seems to me that higher altitude may be associated with remoteness.
I haven't dug into their controls, but it seems to me that higher altitude may be associated with remoteness.
Altitude as a proxy for isolation, perhaps
> Controlling for... population density of each county,
Random 5 seconds search:
https://academic.oup.com/innovateage/article/2/suppl_1/19/51...
> Follow-up analyses showed there was a significant (p = .005) relationship between population density and isolation in Whites, Hispanics, and others, in that higher population density was associated with greater social isolation.
In any case it's much more complex than "many people = no one feels alone"
Also if you compare the "suicide by county" and "distance to nearest metro area" map there is a very nice overlap:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_in_the_United_States#/...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/files/2018/02/...
