Suicide Among Older Psychiatric Inpatients: an Evidence-Based Study of a High-Risk Group

This study examined characteristics associated with suicide among older adults admitted to a psychiatric hospital. All persons aged 60 & older living in Denmark & hospitalized with psychiatric disorders during 1990-2000 were included. A case-control design & logistic regression analysis were used. Affective disorders were found to be associated with an almost 2-fold higher risk of suicide among psychiatric inpatients than other types of disorders. In combination with other types of disorder, affective disorders were found to modify an increased risk of suicide. More than half of the suicides occurred either within the first week of admission or discharge compared with the distribution of patient days. (43 refs.) JA