Suicide risk assessment in the elderly

Abstract

Objectives

To assess suicide risk in elderly psychiatric outpatients and to identify potential suicide risk factors in this population.

Methods

This was a cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical study, including 50 psychiatric outpatients, aged 65 years or more and attending the Hédi Chaker University Hospital, in Sfax (Tunisia), between November and December 2015. We used a hetero questionnaire including epidemiological and clinical data and three scales: the Suicidal Risk Assessment Scale of Ducher (RSD), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE).

Results

The sex ratio (M/F) was 1. The average age of patients was 68.62 years. The majority of them were married (68%), unemployed (98%), living in urban area (58%) and within their family (88%); they had at most a primary degree (80%) and a low socioeconomic level (74%).

The prevalence of patients at risk of suicide (RSD ≥ 3) was 26%. This risk was high (RSD ≥ 7) in 18% of cases.

The presence of suicidal ideation (RSD ≥ 3) was correlated with: a family history of suicide attempt (58.3% vs. 15.8%; P = 0.003), a personal history of suicide attempt (80% vs. 12.5%; P < 0.001), depressive symptoms (HAD-D ≥ 11) (36.7% vs. 10%; P = 0.05) and anxiety (HAD-A ≥ 11) (52.4% vs. 6.9%; P = 0.001).

Conclusion

Our study showed that among older psychiatric outpatients, one in four had suicidal thoughts. This high rate encourages us to search systematically these suicidal thoughts in this population, especially in patients with risk factors such as a family history of suicide attempt, depressive or anxious symptoms.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.