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PSYCHOGERIATRIC INPATIENT SUICIDES IN AUSTRALIA
Author(s) -
SHAH AJIT,
GANESVARAN T.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
international journal of geriatric psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.28
H-Index - 129
eISSN - 1099-1166
pISSN - 0885-6230
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1099-1166(199701)12:1<15::aid-gps415>3.0.co;2-s
Subject(s) - medicine , psychiatry , depression (economics) , suicidal ideation , suicide prevention , population , poison control , injury prevention , psychiatric hospital , emergency medicine , environmental health , economics , macroeconomics
Psychiatric inpatients have a higher suicide rate than the general population. Psychogeriatric inpatients suicides, over a 21‐year period, in a large psychiatric hospital in Melbourne were examined. Only 8% of all inpatient suicides were by those aged over 60 years. Psychogeriatric inpatient suicides, when compared to younger inpatient suicides, were more likely to have depression, less likely to have schizophrenia, have more children and have a longer interval between the age of onset of the illness and the index admission. These associations were probably a function of age. Psychogeriatric inpatient suicides, when compared with psychogeriatric ‘alive’ inpatients, were associated with depression, alcohol misuse and preadmission and intra‐admission suicidal ideation. A high index of suspicion and vigilance among staff for elderly patients with these features is suggested. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.