Suicide attempts in the elderly

Abstract

The number of suicides in Japan has tended to gradually decrease in recent years, however, the proportion of suicides among people who are 60 years and older is about 40% of the total number of suicides, and it is predicted that aging trends will continue in Japan. The current study explored characteristics of suicide in elderly people. We divided patients who attempted suicides and were hospitalized in ER into two groups: those who were elderly patients aged 65 years and over (83 people); and another group of non-elderly patients under the age of 64 (586 people). Characteristics were compared between each group. Because elderly group tended not to receive psychiatric treatment, it might be important for primary care physicians to conduct suicide prevention with elderly patients. Regarding the psychiatric diagnosis, the proportion of dementia in the elderly group was more frequent than in those in the non-elderly group. Elderly suicide attempters tended to be more severely physically harmed and need to be hospitalized for a long time; therefore, elderly patients will have lower Activities of Daily Living (ADL) levels. We reconfirm the importance of suicide prevention for the elderley.