Prevalence of mental disorders among elderly men: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Elderly men have been characterized as a group vulnerable to suicide, motivated by loneliness, loss of loved ones and feelings of uselessness to family members. OBJECTIVES: To ascertain the prevalence of different mental disorders among elderly men who attempted suicide. DESIGN AND SETTING: Systematic review of observational studies developed as a result of a partnership between two postgraduate schools (Lagarto and Uberlândia). METHODS: An electronic search was performed in eight electronic databases, including "grey literature", in January 2019. Observational studies that assessed mental disorders among men older than 60 years who attempted suicide were eligible for inclusion. RESULTS: Among the disorders evaluated, mood disorders had the highest prevalence (42.

External control of fluoridation in the public water supplies of Brazilian cities as a strategy against caries: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Risk of bias was considered High when the study obtained 49% of "yes" answers, Moderate when the study obtained 50–69% of "yes" answers, and Low when the study reached more than 70% of "yes" answers [ 26 ].…”

Ambulophobia as a Specific Phobia—Defining the Problem Among Patients of Long-Term Care Facilities in Poland

“…Despite this, practitioner-clinicians still face diagnostic difficulties for different diseases, which is related to the masking of symptoms and their different specificity in older people compared to younger patients. There are many reports in the literature ( 13 , 29 – 32 ) referring to depressive disorders and generalized anxiety disorders among older people, but there is still a noticeable lack of publications on the prevalence of specific phobias, including ambulophobia, and as shown in our study this is a significant problem among geriatric patients. This paper provides a basis for further research and discussion on this topic.…”

Attempted Suicide in the Older Adults: A Case Series From the Psychiatry Ward of the University Hospital Maggiore Della Carità, Novara, Italy

“…This is likely related to the evidence that suicide attempts among individuals aged 65 years and older are characterized by lower impulsivity and higher lethal intent ( 6 , 10 ). As far as gender is concerned, it is widely acknowledged that women are at higher risk of self-injurious thoughts ( 3 , 10 ), whereas men have higher suicide rates ( 2 , 3 , 5 , 10 , 13 , 14 ). This gender difference largely depends on the choice of suicide method (men tend to use more violent and lethal ones, such as firearms and hanging, while women use drowning or self-poisoning) and reaches a peak among older adults ( 3 , 5 ), where the male/female suicide death ratio is 6.63 for those aged 75–79 years and reaches up to 12.80 for people over the age of 85 years ( 3 ).…”

“…A study carried out on a population of 97-years old subjects found that most of those experiencing suicidal feelings (77%) did not match criteria for depression. On the other hand, the possibility of misdiagnosing or underdiagnosing depressive symptoms in older adults should not be overlooked ( 10 , 11 , 13 , 14 ). Anxiety disorders, in association with major depressive disorder (MDD), represent another important psychiatric comorbidity, being found in 16.6% of suicides in this age group ( 13 ).…”

“…As suicide attempts are the most important predictor for a later suicide ( 28 , 29 ), we focused on suicide attempts of older adults in the Psychiatry Ward, and we compared patients with and without a previous suicide attempt for the same reason. Furthermore, as there are widely acknowledged gender differences in suicidal behaviors ( 2 , 3 , 5 , 10 , 13 , 14 , 30 ), we compared male and female suicide attempters. Last, as suicidal behaviors are reported as more frequent in individual with a psychiatric diagnosis ( 31 ), we compared patients with and without a psychiatric history.…”