Suicide is one of the leading causes of death worldwide,
according to background information in the article. As a result,
the World Health Organization and the U.S. surgeon general have
highlighted the need for more comprehensive data on the
occurrence of suicidal thoughts and attempts, with the
assumption that such data would be useful for planning national
health care policy, as well as for evaluating efforts to reduce
suicide and suicide-related behaviors. Ronald C. Kessler, Ph.D.,
of Harvard Medical School, Boston, and colleagues examined
nationally representative general-population trend data on the
12-month prevalence and treatment of suicide-related behaviors.
Data came from the 1990-1992 National Comorbidity Survey and the
2001-2003 National Comorbidity Survey Replication. These surveys
asked identical questions to 9,708 people aged 18 to 54 years
about the past year's occurrence of suicidal ideation, plans,
gestures, attempts, and treatment. Face-to-face interviews were
administered in the homes of r