Teenagers and elderly white males are known to be at high risk for attempted suicide or suicide. However, middle-aged white Americans, particularly women, have now emerged as a high-risk group for suicide, according to new research published online in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Researchers from Johns Hopkins University analyzed mortality data from 1999 to 2005 to determine changes in suicide rates among different population subgroups and found a sustained increase in midlife suicide rates, especially among women. They found that, overall, the number of deaths by suicide increased by 0.7% each year from 1999 to 2005, mostly due to increased suicides among whites. And, the only sustained increased in suicide rates was among adults aged 40 to 64 years. In particular, the suicide rate among white women aged 40 to 64 years increased by 3.9% per year, but the reasons for this increase still need to be determined.

Depression and suicide-prevention programs are largely targeted at adolescents and elderly people. Based on the findings of this analysis, programs to identify middle-aged adults who are at risk of suicide are needed as well.