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A Comparative Evaluation of Police Suicide Rate Validity
Author(s) -
Violanti John M.,
Vena John E.,
Marshall James R.,
Petralia Sandra
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
suicide and life‐threatening behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.544
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1943-278X
pISSN - 0363-0234
DOI - 10.1111/j.1943-278x.1996.tb00259.x
Subject(s) - predictive value , suicide rates , suicide prevention , medicine , occupational safety and health , poison control , psychology , psychiatry , medical emergency , demography , sociology , pathology
The authors assessed sensitivity, specificity, and predictive value of official police suicide rates and compared them to municipal workers. Deaths officially classified as suicide, accidental, and undetermined were submitted to a panel of medical examiners for validation. Six cases originally in the accident and undetermined rubric were reclassified as suicide. Official police suicide rates had less sensitivity (83.3% compared to 92.3%) of actual suicides than municipal worker rates. Police suicide rates also showed a lower negative proportion than municipal worker rates (86.2% compared to 98.7%). A generalizable sensitivity proportion equation for assessing suicide rates in other police groups is presented.