Officials have said that one in three homicides of U. S. women is committed by an intimate partner, while 5 percent of male homicides are by intimate partners.

It has been reported that using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Violent Death Reporting System, federal health officials analyzed data on homicides and suicides from 16 states for 2007. The researchers said homicide rates were more than three times higher among males than females, with non-Hispanic blacks accounting for the majority of homicides.

There are about double the amount of suicides, 9,245, to the 4,563 homicides reported from the 16 U. S. states in 2007, the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, released Thursday, said.

It was further noted by the report, suicide rates were highest among people ages 45-54, a shift from men age 80 and older, the age group that has typically had the highest rates of suicide.

The report also said that suicides among former or current military personnel, mostly males, non-Hispanic whites and age 45 and older, were precipitated by physical or mental health problems, intimate partner problems or a crisis in the past two weeks. (With Inputs from Agencies)