Attempted Suicide in Older Depressed Patients

Deliberate self‐harm in older adults: a review of the literature from 1995 to 2004

“…This makes negative results very difficult to interpret. The majority of studies have also continued to focus on highly selected populations meaning that the generalisability of the data generated is limited (Takahashi et al, 1995;Duberstein et al, 1999;Upadhyaya et al, 1999;Duberstein et al, 2000Duberstein et al, , 2001Seidlitz et al, 2001;Lykouras et al, 2002). The large majority of studies have been completed with samples from psychiatric services (in and out patients); referrals from general hospital (e.g.…”

“…This makes studies difficult to compare. The reliance on retrospective data (Chiu et al, 1996;Pierce, 1996;Beautrais, 2002) including the retrospective suicide intent scores (Upadhyaya et al, 1999) continues and is also problematic. The majority of problems with the nature and quality of research identified by Draper (1996) therefore continue to be of concern.…”

“…Osvath et al (2002) reported a high level of organic affective disorder (24.3%). Upadhyaya et al (1999) examined the relationship between a structured measure of cognitive function [Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE; Folstein et al, 1975)] and late-life suicidal behaviour. The MMSE score did not predict attempter status; in fact lower score was significantly associated with lower suicidal intent measured by the Suicide Intent Scale.…”

The Role of Cognitive Functioning and Distress in Suicidal Ideation in Older Adults

“…A few studies have attempted to determine whether such a link exists, although the research has relied on small sample sizes and has primarily employed case-control designs. The research has thus been inconclusive, resulting in inconsistent findings, with some studies suggesting that cognitive impairments may be associated with greater frequency of suicidal ideation 13,14 and other studies reporting no such a relationship. [15][16][17] The present study was unique, because it evaluated predictors of suicidal ideation in a large sample of older adults receiving primary care, a group that has been shown to have a high risk for suicide.…”

“…A few studies have attempted to determine whether such a link exists, although the research has relied on small sample sizes and has primarily employed case‐control designs. The research has thus been inconclusive, resulting in inconsistent findings, with some studies suggesting that cognitive impairments may be associated with greater frequency of suicidal ideation 13,14 and other studies reporting no such a relationship 15–17 …”