Higher density of gambling venues associated with a higher risk of suicide in the US

Previous research has found a strong link between problem gambling, suicide attempts, and suicide death. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between casino density and risk of suicide in US counties. The researchers used data for 3,131 US counties from 50 US states. This dataset spanned 17 years (2000–2016). The overall sample included 53,227 county-year units.

The researchers found that a total of 527,401 people died by suicide in the 3,131 US counties from 2000 and 2016. On average, each county-year had 1.3 casinos and 1.4 other gambling venues. Casinos and other gambling venues were heavily concentrated in Nevada. Overall, exposure to casinos and other gambling venues was linked with an increased risk of suicide mortality. An increase in the number of casinos per 100,000 population was linked with a 1.6% increase in suicides. The number of other gambling outlets was also linked with suicides. But this link was weaker than that for casinos.

See the two-page plain language article summary A higher density of casino and other gambling venues is associated with a higher risk of suicide in the United States in Greo's Evidence Centre.