Evidence for Distinctive Suicide Risk Factors For the Elderly

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Evidence for Distinctive Suicide Risk Factors For the Elderly

The two major risk factors for suicide among the elderly population appear to be mental disorder and family discord, claims a team from Göteborg University, Sweden. They discuss how risk factors differ between young and old populations. Eva Rubenowitz and colleagues investigated the occurrence of stressful life events among elderly suicide cases and population controls. The participants, all of whom were Swedish, included 46 males and 39 females aged 65 years and above who had committed suicide between January 1994 and May 1996, and 84 male and 69 female controls. The team interviewed the controls and informants for the suicide cases about sociodemographic background, mental and somatic health status, and life events. These assessments were made at 0?6, 7?12, and 13?24 months.

Rubenowitz's team found that somatic illness, family discord, and financial trouble were significant risk factors during all three time periods. Other risk factors included mental disorder, lower education, feelings of loneliness, and previous suicide in the family. However, only family discord and mental disorder remained significantly associated after multivariate logistic regression.

The researchers note that family discord could be generated by the mental disorder, but both showed independent associations.

Nevertheless, participation in organizations and having a hobby were associated with a decreased suicide risk.

The team notes that some factors that could be associated with suicidality among younger age groups were not factors among the elderly. For instance, separation did not appear to be a risk factor for the elderly, despite being associated with suicide among the young. Other age-specific risk factors included recent bereavement and living alone, both of which seem to play a more important factor for suicide risk in the young.

However, losing a close family member to suicide appears to be a common factor among both the young and elderly. In this study, 15% of the suicide cases had lost a family member compared with 4.6% of the control group. Other studies have suggested that suicides run in the family and the researchers report that their findings support this conclusion. They suggest that 'a familial vulnerability may operate even in the elderly'.

Writing in Psychological Medicine, the authors conclude that further study needs to be carried out to establish the importance of interpersonal problems as a risk factor for suicide late in life. However, they advise that psychological support may be an important focus to prevent suicide in elderly patients who have a mental disorder, or who have experienced family discord.

Psychol Med 2001; 31: 1193?1202

http://www.psychiatrymatters.md/news/2001/week_41/day_2/p_0000050732.asp

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