Open AccessModeling the effects of atmospheric pressure on suicide rates in the USA using geographically weighted regression
Author(s) -
Aaron M Frutos,
Chantel Sloan,
Ray M. Merrill
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0206992
Subject(s) - suicide rates , demography , regression analysis , poison control , suicide prevention , injury prevention , geographically weighted regression , linear regression , medicine , geography , statistics , environmental health , mathematics , sociology
Low atmospheric pressure may increase depression and suicide through inducing hypoxia. Previous studies have not evaluated the geographic variation of this relationship across the United States. Analyses were based on three groupings of age-adjusted completed suicide rates (all suicide, firearm-related suicide, non-firearm-related suicide) from 2286 counties in the United States. Multiple regression was used to determine the overall relationship between atmospheric pressure and completed suicide rates. Geographically weighted regression (GWR) models were used to obtain local coefficient estimates. A negative correlation between atmospheric pressure and completed suicide rates was observed for all three suicide groupings (p - value <0.0001). Significant, negative GWR coefficient estimates were located in the West and Northeast for the all suicides and firearm-related suicides, and in the Midwest for non-firearm-related suicides.