HMN 2025: How 988 disaster hotline contacted greater than 16 million instances between its launch and December 2024

Opportunities stay to extend use of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, in line with a analysis letter published in JAMA Network Open.

Jonathan Purtle, Dr.P.H., from the New York University School of Global Public Health in New York City, and colleagues calculated lifetime and past-year incidence charges of 988 contacts and estimated the prevalence of 988 use at nationwide, regional, and state-levels in a cross-sectional study. Monthly, state-level knowledge on 988 contact volumes throughout all modalities have been obtained for the 30 months after the launch of 988.

The researchers discovered that between July 1, 2022, and Dec. 31, 2024, 988 was contacted 16,333,707 instances nationally, with 11.0% of contacts rerouted to the Veterans Crisis Line. Of all contacts, 70.1%, 18.0%, and 11.9% have been calls, texts, and chats, respectively. The nationwide lifetime 988 contact incidence price was 48.9 per 1,000 inhabitants within the 30-month interval, and the estimated lifetime 988 use prevalence was 2.4%.

The corresponding past-year contact incidence price and past-year prevalence was 23.7 per 1,000 inhabitants and 1.6%. The highest past-year 988 contact incidence price was seen within the West, whereas the bottom was within the South (27.1 versus 20.0 per 1,000 inhabitants); findings have been comparable for the past-year estimate of 988 use prevalence (1.8 versus 1.3%).

“The past-year 988 contact price of 23.7 per 1,000 is lower than half that of the speed of grownup emergency division visits that embody a psychological well being prognosis (53.0 per 1,000 inhabitants), [suggesting] that though 988 has been contacted greater than 16 million instances since its launch, there stays alternative to extend 988 use,” the authors write.

2025 HealthDay.