Evaluation of elderly patients in adult suicide cases admitted to the emergency department

The proportion of elderly people in the general population has been increasing in our country. The suicide rate increases by a person's age, and old age appears as one of the life periods with a high suicide incidence. We aimed at investigating the causes and risk factors of suicide attempts and to analyze the sociodemographic and clinical features of the elderly individuals presenting to the emergency department after suicide attempt. Cross-sectional retrospective study was performed.1403 patients were enrolled. The patients were categorized into two age groups of 18–64 years and 65 years or older. The male gender had a greater proportion in both groups. The young group contained more subjects having an educational level of primary school while the illiterate ones in the older group had a greater suicide tendency. The married subjects had a greater suicide tendency in the younger group while widowed/divorced subjects had a greater suicide tendency in the older group. Subjects without any comorbidity or medication use had a greater suicide tendency in the younger group whereas those who had comorbidities or medication use greater suicide tendency. Mood disorders were the most common psychiatric disorder in both groups. Medication intake was the most common method of suicide in both groups; suicide attempts were more common in summer and between 16:00–24:00. Domestic problems as the cause of suicide were more common in the younger group, while communication problems were more common in the older group. Male gender, divorced/widowed, low education and sociocultural level, presence of depression, communication problems have been identified as risk factors for older group. •Investigating the suicide attempts of the elderly individuals presenting to the emergency department after suicide attempt.•Determining the risk factors of elderly suicide are important for the development of preventive health services.•The proportion of elderly people in the general population has been increasing in Turkey as well as all over the world.