Technical Notes

The manner of death showed from data dashboard was determined according to International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes for the underlying cause of deaths on death certificates. If the ICD-10 code is not available, the manner of death is determined according to death certificate and/or medical examiner report. Occasionally, data sources may record conflicting determinations on the manner of death.

Deaths relating to the Death with Dignity Act (physician-assisted death in terminally ill patients) are not classified as suicides by Oregon law and therefore are excluded from data collection and the data dashboard.

Death rate is calculated by dividing the number of deaths in a population in a period by resident population. Some rates are based on a small number of deaths so from year to year, large swings can occur in rates. The rates based on small numbers (less than 20 events) may be unstable due to random chance factors, and should be used with caution. Rates based on counts less than 5 are suppressed due to confidentiality.

The following are definitions of terms identified in the data dashboard. The details could be found from NVDRS coding manual.

Technical Notes

• Xun Shen, MD, MPH, Epidemiologist, Oregon Violent Death Reporting System, Injury and Violence Prevention Section, Xun.Shen@state.or.us
• Age-adjusted death rate: A mortality rate statistically modified to eliminate the effect of different age distributions in the different populations.
• Alcohol problem: A suicide circumstance in which the victim is perceived by self or others as having a problem with or being addicted to alcohol. A victim who is participating in an alcohol rehabilitation program or treatment, including self-help groups and 12-step programs, and has been clean and sober for less than five years is also considered as having this circumstance.
• Crude death rate: The mortality rate from all causes of death for a population. It is calculated by dividing the number of deaths in a population in a period by resident population.
• Criminal legal problem: A suicide circumstance in which the victim was facing a recent or impending arrest, police pursuit, or an impending criminal court date, and the consequence was relevant to the suicide event.
• Crisis: A suicide circumstance in which an acute precipitating event appears to have contributed to the suicide (e.g., the victim was just arrested; divorce papers were served that day; the victim was about to be laid off; the person had a major argument with a spouse the night before).
• Depressed mood: A suicide circumstance in which the person was noted by others to be sad, despondent, down, blue, unhappy, etc. This circumstance can apply whether or not the person has a diagnosed mental health problem.
• Eviction: A suicide circumstance in which the victim had recently been, was in the process of being evicted or foreclosed on, or was confronted with an eviction, foreclosure, or other loss of housing, and this appears to have contributed to the death.
• Falls: A mechanism of death resulting from a fall, push or jump from a high place.
• Family stressors: A suicide circumstance in which the victim was experiencing significant problems related to family home environment involving more than an intimate partner or family members other than intimate partners.
• Financial problem: A suicide circumstance in which the victim was experiencing monetary issues such as bankruptcy, overwhelming debts, a gambling problem, or foreclosure of a home or business.
• Firearm: Any weapon (including a starter gun) which is designed to or may readily be converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive (e.g., gun powder).
• Gang-related: A homicide circumstance in which the victim or suspect is a member of an association or organization that has the commission of crime as one of its reasons for existence, and the homicide resulted from gang rivalry or gang activity.
• Hanging/suffocation/strangulation: Mechanisms of injury resulting in airway obstruction in which the victim died from lack of oxygen.
• History of suicidal thoughts or plans: Victim had a history of suicidal thoughts, plans or attempts. Disclosure of suicidal thoughts or plan can be verbal, written or electronic. This code is used for victims who have at any time in their life expressed suicidal thoughts or plans.
• Homicide: A death resulting from the intentional use of force or power, threatened or actual, against another person, group, or community. A preponderance of evidence must indicate that the use of force was intentional.
• Homicide-suicide: Defined as one person killing one or more others then taking his/her own life within 24 hours.
• Incident: All victims and suspects associated with a given incident are in one record. A violent death incident can be made up of any of the following: a) One isolated violent death. b) Two or more homicides, including legal interventions, when the deaths involve at least one person who is a suspect or victim in the first death and a suspect or victim in the second death. c) Two or more suicides or undetermined manner deaths, when there is some evidence that the second or subsequent death was planned to coincide with or follow the preceding death. d) One or more homicides or unintentional firearm deaths combined with one or more suicides, when the suspect in the first death is the person who commits suicide. e) Two or more unintentional firearm deaths when the same firearm inflicts two or more fatal injuries and the fatal injuries are inflicted by one shot or burst of shots.
• Intent to die by suicide: The victim had previously expressed suicidal feelings to another person, whether explicitly (e.g., “I’m considering killing myself”) or indirectly (e.g., “I know how to put a permanent end to this pain”).
• Intimate partner: A current or former girlfriend, boyfriend, date, or spouse. The definition of intimate partner includes first dates.
• Intimate partner problem/violence: A suicide or homicide circumstance in which the victim was experiencing problems with a current or former intimate partner, such as a divorce, break-up, argument, jealousy, conflict, or discord.
• IPV-related homicide: A homicide occurred in the context of intimate partner violence (IPV).
• Job problem: A suicide circumstance in which the victim was either experiencing a problem at work or was having a problem with joblessness.
• Legal intervention death: A death in which the decedent was killed by a police officer or other peace officer, including military police, acting in the line of duty.
• Mechanism: The primary instrument used by a victim or suspect that contributed to someone’s death.
• Mental health problem (Current mental illness): A suicide circumstance in which the victim was identified as having a mental health illness diagnosed by someone who is professionally trained.
• Mental health treatment: A suicide circumstance in which the victim had a current prescription for a psychiatric medication or saw a mental health professional within the two months prior to death.
• Physical health problem: A suicide circumstance in which the victim was experiencing terminal disease, debilitating condition, or chronic pain, that was relevant to the suicide event.
• Poisoning: A state of illness caused by the presence of any harmful or toxic substance.
• School problem: Problems at or related to school appear to have contributed to the death, including poor grades, difficulty with a teacher, bullying, social exclusion at school, school detention/suspension, or performance pressures.
• Substance problem: A suicide circumstance in which the victim was noted as using illegal drugs, abusing prescription medications, or regularly using inhalants even if the addiction or abuse is not specifically mentioned.
• Suicide: A death resulting from the intentional use of force against oneself. A preponderance of evidence should indicate that the use of force was intentional.
• Suicide attempt history: A suicide circumstance in which the victim was known to have previously tried to end his/her own life.
• Suicide of friend or family: Death of a family member or friend due to suicide appears to have contributed to the suicide death.
• Suicide note: A suicide circumstance in which the victim left a communication that he or she intended to end his/her own life.
• Undetermined death: A death resulting from the use of force or power against oneself or another person for which the evidence indicating one manner of death is no more compelling than the evidence indicating another manner of death.
• Unintentional firearm death: A death resulting from a penetrating injury or gunshot wound from a weapon that uses a powder charge to fire a projectile when there was a preponderance of evidence that the shooting was not intentionally directed at the victim.
• Veteran: Military/veteran status is indicated on the death certificate in the section captioned, “Ever a member of U.S. Armed Forces.” U.S. Armed Forces comprises five armed service branches: Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, and Navy.
• Victim: Person or persons who died in a suicide, violence-related homicide, legal intervention, as the result of a firearm injury, or from an undetermined manner.

Source: public.tableau.com/profile/oregon.injury.and.violence.prevention#!/vizhome/ORVDRSDashboardDraftJan2017/TableofContents