(AP) - With Nevada's suicide rate the second highest in the nation, a new study says Nevadans are more likely to die from a self-inflicted act than at the hands of another.
The report released by the state Health Division this week also says there's long been a misconception that suicide rates in Nevada are driven by tourists who kill themselves while visiting here.
But the new study called "Injury in Nevada" says suicide victims in the state are two times as likely to be Nevada residents than not. Men are four times more likely to take their own lives than women and guns are used in 60 percent of the suicides in Nevada.
Nevada's suicide rate was nearly double the national average in 2006 - with about 19.2 cases per 100,000 residents compared to about 10.9 suicides per 100,000 nationally.
Rural Nye County was more than triple the national rate with 34.3 suicides per 100,000.
Alaska's rate of 19.6 led the nation.
Nevada's homicide rate in 2006 was nine per 100,000.
Suicide rates for men are highest among those 75 years and older, and rates for women are highest among those 45-54 years old, the report said.
"One explanation for the high rates of suicide among the elderly is the increased suicide risk of being diagnosed with a chronic debilitating or fatal illness," the study says.
The report is a joint effort by the health division, UNLV's School of Community Health Sciences, the Southern Nevada Health District, UNLV's Transportation Research Center, the Nevada Institute for Children's Research and Policy, and UNLV's Center for Health Information and Analysis.