Suicide rates in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) student-athletes: a 12-year longitudinal analysis

OBJECTIVE: This study compared NCAA suicide rates by gender, sport, contact type, participation type, and division over 12 academic years. PARTICIPANTS: NCAA student-athletes. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort review of NCAA student-athlete deaths. We calculated suicide incidence rates per 100,000 student-athletes and associated 95% confidence intervals by gender, sport, contact type, participation type, and division. RESULTS: Suicide accounted for 12.79% of all deaths. Men died at a higher suicide rate than women (1.96 vs. 0.57/100,000 student-athletes). Men's lacrosse student-athletes demonstrated the highest suicide rate (3.47/100,000). Contact/collision student-athletes died by suicide more than noncontact and limited contact, as did team compared to individual sport student-athletes (2.10, 1.20, and 1.12/100,000, respectively; 1.67 and 1.25/100,000, respectively). Division I student-athletes experienced the highest suicide rate compared to Divisions II and III (1.57, 1.48, and 1.07/100,000, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Knowing which NCAA student-athletes are most susceptible to suicide is critical for specific and effective suicide prevention programming.