The DOI matches its Crossref record; 22 of the 23 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Loss of partner and suicide risks among oldest old: a population-based register study
Abstract
BACKGROUND: while mortality among the oldest old has improved over recent decades, these improvements are not reflected in the suicide mortality of this age group. We do not know the reasons why the suicide mortality is still very high among the oldest old. OBJECTIVE: the aim is to analyse the impact that loss of a partner has on the suicide risks of the oldest old (80+) compared to younger age groups. SUBJECTS: the entire Danish population aged 50 during 1994-1998 (n = 1,978,527). METHODS: we applied survival analysis to calculate the changes in relative risk of suicide after a loss by using individual-level data. RESULTS: the majority of older persons who commit suicide are widowed, although only a relatively small proportion of the oldest old who commit suicide have experienced a recent loss of partner (men: 18%, women: 6%). In absolute terms, the oldest old men experience the highest increase in suicide risk immediately after the loss (15-fold; 95% CI 10.2-23.6) compared to middle-aged men who are still married. Oldest old men seem to suffer more from the loss and need longer time to recover than women. CONCLUSIONS: although a small proportion of oldest old who commit suicide have experienced a recent bereavement, there is a significant increase in the suicide risk during the first year after a bereavement, especially for men. However, the increased risk of suicide in the oldest old men may only in part be explained by the loss of a partner.
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“In a population-based register study of the entire Danish population aged fifty year and older, Erlangsen and colleagues showed that men aged 80 years and above who had lost their partner during the past year had a 15-fold increase in suicide risk compared to married middle-aged men [52].”
From A systematic review of social factors and suicidal behavior in older adulthood (2012) · cites this paper as [52]
Citations
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Health outcomes of bereavement.
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A systematic review of social factors and suicidal behavior in older adulthood
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“increase in suicide risk compared to married middle-aged men [52].”
Self-citationA systematic review of elderly suicide prevention programs
Lapierre, S., Erlangsen, A., Waern, M., De Leo, D., Oyama, H., Scocco, P., Gallo, J., Szanto, K., Conwell, Y., Draper, B., et al. (2011) · Crisis · doi:10.1027/0227-5910/a000076 · Cited by 323
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Presence in absence. The ambiguous phenomenology of grief
Fuchs, T. A. E. (2017) · Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1007/s11097-017-9506-2 · Cited by 162
“8 Since Emile Durkheim’s classic 1897 monograph on suicide, this has been repeatedly demonstrated, the risk being greatest for the period immediately following the loss (Durkheim 1897; Kreitman 1988; Erlangsen et al. 2004; Agerbo 2005).”
Background
Metadata
- Authors
- Erlangsen, A.
- Affiliations
- Max Planck Society (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Erlangsen, A.
- ORCID
- Erlangsen, A.
- Venue
- Age and Ageing
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2004-04-13
- Volume
- 33
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 378-383
- ISSN
- 0002-0729 (ISSN-L)
- 1468-2834
- OpenAlex
- W2079116212
- Cited by
- 153
- References
- 23
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 10 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 12
- FWCI
- 4.79
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Age and Ageing (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- University of Southern Denmark Research Portal (University of Southern Denmark) (publishedVersion)
- Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (submittedVersion)
- ANU Open Research (Australian National University) (submittedVersion)
- Research at the University of Copenhagen (University of Copenhagen) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Aging, Health, and Disability
- Keywords
- suicide, oldest old, bereavement, loss of a partner, widowhood, suicide risk, gender differences, middle-aged adults
- MeSH terms
- Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Bereavement, Denmark, Female, Humans, Life Change Events, Male, Middle Aged, Suicide, Time Factors, Widowhood
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