Differences in methods of suicide among veterans experiencing housing instability, 2013-2016.

Although housing instability moderates suicide risk among military veterans, it is unknown whether suicide methods differ between stably and unstably housed veterans. The Veterans Health Administration screened 5,849,870 veterans for housing instability between October 1, 2012 and September 30, 2016. Death data were from the National Death Index. Unstably housed veterans had greater hazards of suicide mortality by jumping from a height (aHR = 3.07, 95%CI = 1.20-7.98) and unspecified means (aHR = 2.80, 95%CI = 1.63-4.80) than stably housed veterans. Translating these findings into optimal suicide prevention programming tailored to unstably housed veterans is essential.