Health status and suicide in the second half of life
Open accessAbstract
Objective: To examine the associations of suicide in the second half of life with medical and psychiatric illness, functional limitations, and reported use of inpatient, ambulatory, and home health care services. Method: A retrospective case‐control design was used to compare 86 people over age 50 years who died by suicide with a comparison group of 86 living community participants that were individually matched on age, gender, race, and county of residence. Results: Suicide decedents had more Axis I diagnoses, including current mood and anxiety disorders, worse physical health status, and greater impairment in functional capacity. They were more likely to have required psychiatric treatment, medical, or surgical hospitalization in the last year, and visiting nurse or home health aide services. In a multivariate model, the presence of any active Axis I disorder and any impairment in instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) made independent contributions to suicide risk. Conclusions: Mental illness, physical illness, and associated functional impairments represent domains of risk for suicide in this age group. In addition to individuals with psychiatric illness, those with severe or comorbid physical illness and functional disability who require inpatient and home care services should be targeted for screening and preventive interventions. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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In a case-control comparison of suicides over age 50 with living matched controls, any impairment in instrumental activities of daily living was significantly associated with suicide case status independent of physical and mental health disorder diagnoses.
“in a case controlled comparison of suicides over age 50 years with living demographically matched controls, our group found in multivariate analyses that the presence of any impairment in instrumental activities in daily living (IADLs) was significantly associated with suicide case status independent of the effects of physical and mental health disorder diagnoses (21).”
From Suicide in older adults (2011) · cites this paper as [21]
Rates of problem drinking differ markedly between East and West.
“Rates of problem drinking, for example differ markedly in the East (9) and West (21).”
From Suicide in older adults (2011) · cites this paper as [21]
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- Authors
- Conwell, Y., Duberstein, P. R., Hirsch, J. K., Conner, K. R., Eberly, S., & Caine, E. D.
- Affiliations
- University of Rochester Medicine (US)
- East Tennessee State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Conwell, Yeates
- ORCID
- Venue
- International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2009-07-06
- Volume
- 25
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 371-379
- ISSN
- 0885-6230 (ISSN-L)
- 1099-1166
- PMC
- PMC2864785
- OpenAlex
- W2085548830
- Cited by
- 159
- References
- 42
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 14 · 2020: 18 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 15 · 2014: 12 · 2013: 13 · 2012: 8
- FWCI
- 7.80
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Digital Commons - East Tennessee State University (East Tennessee State University) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (5t32mh020061-25)
- U.S. Public Health Service
- National Institute of Mental Health (T32 MH20061, R01 MH54682, P20MH071897, T32-MH020061, R01MH054682)
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences (R01GM054682)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Aging, Health, and Disability
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Homicide, Infanticide, and Child Abuse
- Keywords
- suicide, middle-aged and older adults, Axis I disorders, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, physical health status, functional disability, instrumental activities of daily living, home health care, hospitalization, psychiatric treatment, suicide risk factors, suicide prevention
- MeSH terms
- Age Factors, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Mental Disorders, Community Health Services, Disability Evaluation, Female, Health Status, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales, Retrospective Studies, Risk Factors, Suicide, Multivariate Analysis, Case-Control Studies
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