ArticleActa bio-medica : Atenei Parmensis2019
Suicide in the elderly: a 37-years retrospective study.
Article in Acta bio-medica : Atenei Parmensis, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers.
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Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed.
- Global prevalence of suicide attempts in older adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis.International journal of nursing studies advances · 2026Review
- Predictive models for active suicidal ideation in cognitive decline: identifying risk factors.BMC psychiatry · 2026Article
- Psychometric evaluation of the Chinese version of the shortened version of the RFL-OA scale (SRFL-OA).BMC geriatrics · 2025Article
- Older People at Risk of Suicide: A Local Study During the COVID-19 Confinement Period.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Association of semaglutide use with depressive symptoms and suicidal behavior in a patient with type 2 diabetes: A case report.The Journal of international medical research · 2025Article
- A brief report of the economic burden and epidemiological finding of suicide attempts among the older adults in Korea from 2007 to 2021.BMC geriatrics · 2025Article
- Epidemiological Aspects and Pattern of Intoxication among Elderly in Khorasan-Razavi; Northeast of Iran.Journal of prevention (2022) · 2025Article
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- Suicide Risk Among the Octogenarians: A Comparative Study.Turk psikiyatri dergisi = Turkish journal of psychiatry · 2025Article
- Article
- Review
- A narrative review: suicide and suicidal behaviour in older adults.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Review
- Risk factors and methods in suicides of elderly patients connected to mental health services from 1999-2024.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Article
- A brief research report of suicide rates in the Brazilian elderly over a 12-year period: the lack of association of the "Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Article
- Argyrophilic grain disease is common in older adults and may be a risk factor for suicide: a study of Japanese forensic autopsy cases.Translational neurodegeneration · 2023Article
- Trends of completed suicide rates among Malaysian elderly between 1995 and 2020.BMC public health · 2023Article
- An elderly patient with depression and a suicide attempt during the COVID-19 pandemic: a case report.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
- A comparative autopsy study of the injury distribution and severity between suicidal and accidental high falls.Forensic science, medicine, and pathology · 2022Article
- The effects of changes in daily life due to the COVID-19 pandemic on the depressive symptoms among community-dwelling older adults in Korea.International journal of mental health nursing · 2022Article
- Suicidal vulnerability in older adults and the elderly: study based on risk variables.BJPsych open · 2022Article
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5 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundThe rates of suicide increase with age and reach their highest levels in the oldest age groupings and are sufficiently large for them to constitute a public health concern. The number of deaths due to suicides after the age of 60 years in Italy is 1,775 (41.36%) in 2013; there is a constant increase of elder population over the last ten years and elderly are almost twice of young. It is in this context that suicide arises, a risk factor during old age.
methodThis is a retrospective study of autopsy and police reports of suicide from January 1979 through December 2015. Data about suicides after the age of 60 years was collected from the Archives of the Legal Medicine of the University of Parma, a Northern Italian city. Trend and characteristics (age, sex, marital status, pathological factors and method of suicide) were assessed.
resultsA total of 538 cases (394 males, 144 females) were identified. Male sex correlates to a higher suicidal risk, with a male-female ratio of 2.74:1. The highest risk of suicide is observed in the age between 70 and 79 years. Pathological factors were revealed in 427 cases (physical state for 194 cases, mental state for 233 cases); mental illness was related significantly to suicidal risk. Hanging is the most common suicide method (175 cases), followed by fall from height (130 cases), drowning (101 cases) and use of firearms (56 cases); differences regarding methods employed were detected between males and females. The choice of method sometimes is indicative of a clear decision, while other times it is strictly linked to the availability of the means.
conclusionsSuicidal behavior seems to be the product of the interaction of many factors, such as biological or psychological diseases or painful events. The presence of chronic and debilitating diseases, often accompanied by profound psychological suffering, is a powerful stimulus for suicide among men, whereas mental state is a significant risk factor for women, with the majority suffering from depression. The psychological and the biological changes, the cognitive deficits and the common diseases facilitate the structuring of depressive characteristics.
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