Τίτλος:
Late onset suicide: Distinction between “young-old” vs.
“old-old” suicide victims. How different populations are they?
Γλώσσες Τεκμηρίου:
Αγγλικά
Περίληψη:
Elderly suicide rates are the highest of any age group. Greece is among
the countries with the highest proportion of elderly people in the
European Union (EU). Elderly suicide victims seem to possess different
characteristics. Aim of our study was to elucidate the different
characteristics of elderly suicide victims. Data was collected from a
two-year psychological autopsy study, conducted at the Athens’
Department of Forensic Medicine, the largest in Greece. Elderly suicide
victims represented 35% of total suicides. The majority (69.5%) were
males. Only 12.4% had previous psychiatric hospitalization but more
than half (65.2%) had psychiatric history (81% of them had history of
depression). As expected, there was a high incidence of physical illness
(81.6%). The majority (82%) of the elderly suicide victims made a
suicide attempt for the first time and it was unfortunately successful.
When the elderly suicide victims were divided in two categories
(”young-old” and “old-old”) the differences between the two
groups were: elderly over 75 years had more physical problems and more
frequently positive psychiatric history without ever been hospitalized
for psychiatric problems. Late life suicides seem to encapsulate
population groups with different characteristics. Their differences can
be a useful guide aiming to formulate specific suicide prevention
strategies. This is of great importance, given the very high frequency
of completed suicides in this age group. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd.
All rights reserved.
Συγγραφείς:
Paraschakis, Antonios
Douzenis, Athanassios
Michopoulos, Ioannis
and Christodoulou, Christos
Vassilopoulou, Konstantina and
Koutsaftis, Filippos
Lykouras, Lefteris
Περιοδικό:
Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics
Εκδότης:
Elsevier Ireland Ltd
Λέξεις-κλειδιά:
Late-onset suicide; Suicide elderly; Behavior of elderly
DOI:
10.1016/j.archger.2011.02.011
