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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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Deliberate self-harm (DSH) among older people
— a retrospective study in Barnet, North London | | Author(s) | Florian Alexander Ruths, Robert Ian Tobiansky, Martin Blanchard |
| Journal title | International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, vol 20, no 2, February 2005 |
| Pages | pp 106-112 |
| Source | http://www.interscience.wiley.com |
| Keywords | Suicide ; Mental disorder ; Accident & emergency depts ; Psychiatric treatment ; Longitudinal surveys ; Barnet. |
| Annotation | Rates of suicide remain high in older people, and those who deliberately self-harm are believed to be at increased risk of killing themselves in the future. If older people who deliberately harm themselves are to be helped by developments in services, we need to understand what currently happens to them in terms of service provision and outcome. In this study, 43 older people presenting to Accident and Emergency Departments (A&E) in the London Borough of Barnet with deliberate self-harm (DSH) in 1998 and 1999 were identified. 18/43 (42%) had previous contact with local psychiatric services. The main method of DSH was overdose of medication (36/43 or 84%). Compared to the general population, there were more women and widows. There were similar levels of physical ill health. 37/43 (86%) received documented psychiatric input outside of hospital following the DSH. The mean follow-up period was 789 days. During this time, 8/43 (19%) had a further documented episode of DSH, and 18/43 (40%) died from natural causes. The study confirms the need for improved documentation of DSH and its coding. This needs to be reviewed at local and national level. The vast majority of older people who attempt suicide do have subsequent contact with psychiatric services. There is a strong likelihood of repeat DSH and a higher risk of death by natural causes, emphasising the need to conceptualise DSH as a risk factor relevant to all medical specialities. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-050221201 A |
| Classmark | EV: E: LD6: LP: 3J: 82L4 |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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