BJP Try Psychiatric Bulletin Online
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Psychiatric Bulletin Advances in Psychiatric Treatment All RCPsych Journals
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Submit an eLetter
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by ERLANGSEN, A.
Right arrow Articles by JEUNE, B.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by ERLANGSEN, A.
Right arrow Articles by JEUNE, B.
The British Journal of Psychiatry (2005) 187: 43-48
© 2005 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

Psychiatric hospitalisation and suicide among the very old in Denmark: population-based register study

ANNETTE ERLANGSEN, PhD

Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany

PREBEN BO MORTENSEN

DrMedSc, National Centre for Register-based Research, Aarhus

WERNER VACH, PhD

Department of Statistics, University of Southern Denmark

BERNARD JEUNE, MD

Ageing Research Centre and Epidemiology, Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark

Correspondence: Annette Erlangsen, National Centre for Register-based Research, University of Aarhus, Taasingegade 1, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark. E-mail: aer{at}ncrr.dk

Declaration of interest None.

Background Very old people have higher suicide rates than the younger elderly population. Psychiatric disorders are known to have a strong association with suicide among elderly people.

Aims To analyse the analyse the suicide risk associated with psychiatric hospitalisation among the very old (≥80 years) compared with the middle-aged (50-64 years) and old (65-79 years) populations.

Method Individual-level data on the entire Danish population aged 50 years or over were analysed for the period 1994-1998. Relative suicide risks were calculated using event-history analysis.

Results Among 1978 527 persons, 2323 died by suicide. Although the very old group exhibited a four-fold to five-fold increase in risk of suicide for those previously hospitalised, we noted an inverse interaction effect: the increase is distinctly smaller compared with that in the middle-aged and old groups.

Conclusions The association between suicide and psychiatric hospitalisation is much weaker for the very old than for the old. Psychiatric disorders among very old people may be interacting with other disorders, may be underdiagnosed or treated in other healthcare settings.




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 AJGPHome page
A. Erlangsen, S. H. Zarit, and Y. Conwell
Hospital-Diagnosed Dementia and Suicide: A Longitudinal Study Using Prospective, Nationwide Register Data
Am J Geriatr Psychiatry, March 1, 2008; 16(3): 220 - 228.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 AJGPHome page
A. Erlangsen, S. H. Zarit, X. Tu, and Y. Conwell
Suicide Among Older Psychiatric Inpatients: An Evidence-Based Study of a High-Risk Group
Am J Geriatr Psychiatry, September 1, 2006; 14(9): 734 - 741.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Evid. Based Ment. HealthHome page
P. S Links
History of psychiatric hospital admission increases the risk of suicide less in the very old than in middle aged people
Evid. Based Ment. Health, February 1, 2006; 9(1): 24 - 24.
[Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Psychiatric Bulletin Advances in Psychiatric Treatment All RCPsych Journals
Copyright © 2005 The Royal College of Psychiatrists.