Centre for Policy on Ageing



Elderly suicide — a multi-national view
Author(s)	J L Pearson, Y Conwell, J Lindesay
Journal title	Aging & Mental Health, vol 1, no 2, May 1997
Pages	pp 107-111
Source	http://www.tandfonline.com
Keywords	Suicide ; Preventative medicine ; International.
Annotation	Males aged 75 and over have the highest rates of suicide in nearly all industrialised countries. A fairly consistent pattern of risk factors for elderly suicides, in contrast to younger victims, includes major depression diagnoses without comorbid substance use, and comorbid physical illness. Older suicides also demonstrate greater lethality of self-destructive behaviours compared to younger groups. With regard to service use, reports from the US, UK and Japan find that most of the elderly suicides have contact with a primary health care provider in the month prior to suicide. Altogether, these findings suggest means for primary and secondary prevention efforts. This paper summarises research findings and recent prevention efforts from several nations.
Accession Number	CPA-970529001 A
Classmark	EV: LK2: 72
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.