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Studies in several countries have suggested that suicide rates in rural areas exceed those in urban areas. This first-ever meta-analytic study and systematic review of rural versus urban suicide rates combined data from four high-income, English-speaking countries (U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia).
The meta-analysis included 53 studies (of 4954 identified initially) published from 2006 to 2017. Across countries, rates of completed suicide were higher in rural men than their urban counterparts (relative risk, 1.4); this was not true for women. Suicide attempt rates did not differ by rural versus urban location. In the authors' systematic review, U.S. and Canadian rural suicide victims were less likely to have a psychiatric diagnosis than ur…