The present study described all suicides among older adults in nursing homes in Finland during a 12-month period, emphasizing the factors that have been found to be associated with suicide in the general elderly population. 12 elderly nursing home residents who died by suicide, 0.9% of all suicides, were identified. The primary finding of the study was that nursing home residents who died by suicide had suffered from highly comorbid somatopsychiatric disorders. (39 refs)