Citation

Mehra AA, Gianakos D, Driscoll C. Clin. Geriatr. 2012; 20(6): 22-27.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, Multimedia Healthcare)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The prevalence of suicide in adults aged 65 years and older is more than double the rate among younger individuals. Identifying older adults at risk of suicide can be complex, as older patients may not report suicidal ideation to their healthcare providers, or suicidal behaviors may be wrongly attributed to comorbidities. The authors review risk factors for suicide in patients of any age while calling attention to the key geriatric risk factors for suicide. The authors also discuss methods for identifying older patients at risk of suicide and provide a brief overview of intervention programs and additional resources for preventing suicide in this population.

Language: en

Keywords

human; suicide; incidence; suicidal ideation; prevalence; sex difference; major depression; risk assessment; social isolation; firearm; ethnicity; risk factor; mass screening; rural population; review; alcohol abuse; disease association; emotional stress; high risk patient; geriatric assessment; meta analysis (topic)