Repetition of Suicidal Behaviour in Elderly Europeans: a Prospective Longitudinal Study

This study assessed any predictive factors for repeated suicide attempts & completed suicide in a 1-year follow-up of 63 elderly Europeans. At follow-up, 8 individuals had died by suicide & seven had attempted suicide at least once more. When repeaters & non-repeaters were compared, differences emerged in terms of the death of the father in childhood & for mean Suicidal Intent Score. At the end of the follow-up period, repeaters reported a more frequent desire to repeat suicidal behaviour & judged their mental health & social assistance to be worse. Limitations to the results are discussed. The study does confirm the high risk of repetitious suicidal behaviour in the elderly. (22 refs.)