988 Suicide And Crisis Lifeline Has Been Contacted More Than 16M Times Since Launch, Research Letter Says
HealthDay (6/11, Gotkine) reports a research letter published in JAMA Network Open says “opportunities remain to increase use of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.” The researchers calculated that “between July 1, 2022, and Dec. 31, 2024, 988 was contacted 16,333,707 times nationally, with 11.0 percent of contacts rerouted to the Veterans Crisis Line.” Over the 30-month period, “the national lifetime 988 contact incidence rate was 48.9 per 1,000 population,” and the “estimated lifetime 988 use prevalence was 2.4 percent. The corresponding past-year contact incidence rate and past-year prevalence was 23.7 per 1,000 population and 1.6 percent.” They concluded, “The past-year 988 contact rate of 23.7 per 1,000 is less than half that of the rate of adult emergency department visits that include a mental health diagnosis (53.0 per 1,000 population), [suggesting] that although 988 has been contacted more than 16 million times since its launch, there remains opportunity to increase 988 use.”