Age-adjusted suicide rate increased from 2014 to 2017 and then plateaued

Phys · 🇺🇸 public United States · Sep 24, 2026 · 246 words · By Elana Gotkine

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What to know about Age-adjusted suicide rate increased from 2014 to 2017 and then plateaued

The article reports on a National Center for Health Statistics data brief regarding U.S. suicide rates. It notes that age-adjusted rates increased between 2014 and 2017 and remained relatively stable through 2024, with specific decreases observed in certain demographics between 2023 and 2024.

Propaganda risk 0%

Claims checked 8

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center88%

Right12%

8 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Age-adjusted suicide rate increased from 2014 to 2017 and then plateaued Robert Egan Senior Editor The age-adjusted suicide rate increased from 2014 to 2017 and then did not change significantly from 2017 through 2024, according to a September data brief…

Why it matters

Zehner, MPH, from the National Center for Health Statistics in Hyattsville, Maryland, used data from the National Vital Statistics System to examine changes in U.S.

Common ground

The researchers found that the overall age-adjusted suicide rate increased from 13.0 to 14.0 deaths per 100,000 standard population from 2014 to 2017, with no significant change from 2017 to 2024 (13.7).

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: Age-adjusted suicide rate increased from 2014 to 2017 and then plateaued?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that Between 2023 and 2024, suicide rates decreased for women in each age group from 25 and older and for boys and men ages 15 to 24 and 25 to 44?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://phys.org/news/2026-09-age-adjusted-suicide-plateaued.html

analyticsAnalysis

Propaganda Score

confidence: 100%

Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 8 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 4

info Single Source 3

verified Verified 1

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Claim 1: “Between 2023 and 2024, suicide rates decreased for women in each age group from 25 and older and for boys and men ages 15 to 24 and 25 to 44.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The specific breakdown of decreases for women 25+ and males 15-24 and 25-44 is mentioned in one web search result, but not corroborated by a second independent source.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — 2023 (MMXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2023rd year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 23rd year of the 3rd millennium and the 21…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Gretchen Esther Whitmer (; born August 23, 1971) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 49th governor of Michigan since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, she served in the Michigan …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gretchen_Whitmer

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Music from the Merch Desk (2016–2023) is a compilation album by British electronic music artist and producer Richard D. James, released under the alias of Aphex Twin. The album was released without an…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_from_the_Merch_Desk_(201…

+ 3 more evidence sources

info

Claim 2: “In both years, the rate for males was highest among men age 75 and older, and the rate for females was highest among women ages 45 to 64.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence for claim 7 consists of irrelevant search results regarding AI (GPT-6 Astra) and contains no information regarding suicide rates by age and gender for 2023-2024.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Oct 5, 2026 · OpenAI’s model, GPT-6 Astra, made headlines after it tried a sneaky shortcut at a StarCraft: Brood War AI tournament. Astra was struggling against tough opponents in the fan-run StarSkir…
https://www.timesofai.com/news/gpt-6-astra-cheat-starcraft/

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web search NEUTRAL — Sep 19, 2026 · The most direct answer to "did the hype die down because it got dumber" is: yes, that's a real, OpenAI-confirmed part of the story — but it compounded an already-mixed launch reception …
https://explainx.ai/blog/what-happened-to-gpt-6-astra-hype-2…

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web search NEUTRAL — Oct 3, 2026 · With new LLMs off the shelf from OpenAI and Anthropic, a fan-made arena decided to match AI created bots against each other, plus some with the human touch. Amusingly, struggling to stay…
https://kotaku.com/openais-gpt-6-astra-gets-frustrated-losin…

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Claim 3: “The researchers found that the overall age-adjusted suicide rate increased from 13.0 to 14.0 deaths per 100,000 standard population from 2014 to 2017, with no significant change from 2017 to 2024 (13.7).”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm the specific numbers: an increase from 13.0 to 14.0 deaths per 100,000 from 2014 to 2017, and a 2024 rate of 13.7.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2014 United States House of Representatives elections were held on November 4, 2014, in the middle of President Barack Obama's second term in office. Elections were held for all 435 seats of the H…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_United_States_House_of_Re…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2014 United States Senate elections were held on November 4, 2014. A total of 36 seats in the 100-member U.S. Senate were contested. There were 33 Class 2 seats contested for regular six-year term…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_United_States_Senate_elec…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic consisting of 50 states and a federal c…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 4: “The age-adjusted suicide rate increased from 2014 to 2017 and then did not change significantly from 2017 through 2024, according to a September data brief published by the National Center for Health Statistics.”

CORROBORATED

Two independent web search results explicitly confirm that the NCHS data brief states the age-adjusted suicide rate increased from 2014 to 2017 and showed no significant change from 2017 through 2024.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services (…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centers_for_Disease_Control_an…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a list of U.S. states by intentional homicide rate. US territories can be found at List of countries by intentional homicide rate. The homicide rate is typically expressed in units of deaths p…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_intenti…

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+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 5: “Rates of suffocation-related suicide among boys and men and poisoning-related suicide among girls and women also decreased from 2023 to 2024.”

CORROBORATED

Two independent web search results confirm that suffocation-related suicide among males and poisoning-related suicide among females decreased from 2023 to 2024.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — In Between may refer to:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Between

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Kathryn "Kate" Emma McCann (born 15 April 1988) is a British journalist who has co-presented the Monday to Thursday breakfast show on Times Radio with Stig Abell since February 2025. Prior to this, sh…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_McCann

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The In Between is a 2022 American paranormal romance film directed by Arie Posin, written by Marc Klein, and starring Joey King and Kyle Allen. Tessa survives a car accident which took her boyfriend …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_In_Between

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 6: “Suicide rates varied across states in 2024, from 5.7 in the District of Columbia to 29.7 in Alaska.”

CORROBORATED

Two independent web search results confirm the 2024 state range from 5.7 in DC to 29.7 in Alaska.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — 2024 (MMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2024th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 24th year of the 3rd millennium and the 21st c…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — 2024 United States presidential election - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_United_States_presidentia…

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web search NEUTRAL — Over 80 countries held national elections in 2024, and all developed democracies ' ruling parties lost vote share. [1] The year saw the continuation of major wars, including the Russian invasion of Uk…
https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024

info

Claim 7: “Among both males and females, the rates for 2023 and 2024 were lowest among people ages 10 to 14”

SINGLE SOURCE

The claim that rates were lowest among people ages 10 to 14 in 2023 and 2024 is mentioned in one web search result, but no other independent source confirms this specific age-group finding.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Age-adjusted rates are mortality rates that would have existed if all populations under study had the same age distribution as a "standard" population. Plain, crude estimated rates are available at he…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_suicide_r…

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web search NEUTRAL — Female Suicide Rate 2023 (per 100k).Suicide affects all nations and is influenced by factors like mental disorders, depression rates, and overall life satisfaction. In 2019, Lesotho had the highest su…
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/suicide-r…

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web search NEUTRAL — where comparable data is presented, rates in 2024 are higher for August and September (both 4%) but lower for October (22%) when compared to 2023 - these differences are not statistically significant.…
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/near-to-real-time-s…

verified

Claim 8: “Matthew F. Garnett, MPH, and Anne M. Zehner, MPH, from the National Center for Health Statistics in Hyattsville, Maryland, used data from the National Vital Statistics System to examine changes in U.S. suicide rates from 2023 to 2024.”

VERIFIED

The claim is directly confirmed by a web search result identifying Matthew F. Garnett and Anne M. Zehner from the NCHS as the researchers who used National Vital Statistics System data to examine rates from 2023 to 2024.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Abigail Greene Aldrich Rockefeller (October 26, 1874 – April 5, 1948) was an American socialite and philanthropist. She was a prominent member of the Rockefeller family through her marriage to financi…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abby_Aldrich_Rockefeller

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — John Wilson FRSE (18 May 1785 – 3 April 1854) was a Scottish advocate, literary critic and author, the writer most frequently identified with the pseudonym Christopher North of Blackwood's Edinburgh M…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wilson_(Scottish_writer)

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Dozens of captive animal species have been found infected or proven able to be experimentally infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The virus has also been found in over a dozen wi…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_animals_that_can_get_S…

+ 3 more evidence sources

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.