Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T15:32:03.239Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Suicide in centenarians: the international landscape

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 June 2014

Ajit Shah ,
Sofia Zarate-Escudero ,
Ravi Bhat ,
Diego De Leo  and
Annette Erlangsen
Ajit Shah*
Affiliation:
School of Health, University of Central Lancashire, London, UK
Sofia Zarate-Escudero
Affiliation:
Trainee Psychiatrist, St Charles Hospital, London, UK
Ravi Bhat
Affiliation:
Rural Health Academic Centre, University of Melbourne, Shepparton, Victoria, Australia
Diego De Leo
Affiliation:
Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention, Griffith University, Mt Gravatt, Australia Slovene Centre for Suicide Research, University of Primorska, Koper, Slovenia.
Annette Erlangsen
Affiliation:
Research Unit, Mental Health Centre Copenhagen, Capital Region of Denmark, Denmark.
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Professor Ajit Shah, 49 Erlesmere Gardens, Ealing, London, W13 9TZ, UK. Email: ajitshah123@btinternet.com.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background. The elderly population size is growing worldwide due increased life expectancy and decreased mortality in the elderly. This has lead to an increase in the number of centenarians, and their numbers are predicted to increase further. Little is known about suicide rates in centenarians.

Methods. Data on the number of suicides (ICD-10 codes, X60–84) in centenarians of both gender for as many years as possible from 2000 were ascertained from three sources: colleagues, national statisics office websites and e-mail contact with the national statistics offices of as many countries as possible. The number of centernarians for the corresponding years was estimated for each country using data provided by the United Nations website.

Results. Data were available from 17 countries. The suicide rate was 57 (95% confidence interval 45–69) per 100, 000 person years in men and 6.8 (95% confidence interval 5.1–8.5) per 100,000 person years in women.

Conclusions. Suicide rates were sufficiently large amongst centenarians for there to constitute a public health concern given the anticipated rise in the centenarian population and the paucity of data on risk and protective factors for suicide in this age group.

Keywords

suicidesuicide ratescentenariansoldest old
Type
Research Article
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 26 , Issue 10 , October 2014 , pp. 1703 - 1708
Copyright
Copyright © International Psychogeriatric Association 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abrahams, V. J., Abrahams, S. and Jacob, K. S. (2005) Suicide in the elderly in Kanyambadi block, Tamil Nadu, South India. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 20, 953–955.Google Scholar
Andersen-Ranberg, K. et al. (1999). Declining physical abilities with age: a cross-sectional study of older twins and centenarians in Denmark. Age and Ageing, 28, 373–378.Google Scholar
Andersen-Ranberg, K., Schroll, M. and Jeune, B. (2001). Healthy centenarians do not exist, but autonomous centenarians do: a population-based study of morbidity among Danish centenarians. Journal of the American Geriatric Society, 49, 900–908.Google Scholar
Archer, S. et al. (2005). Centenarians in Barbados: the importance of religiosity in adaptation and coping and life satisfaction in the case of extreme longivity. Journal of Religion, Spirituality and Ageing, 18, 3–19.Google Scholar
Berlau, D. J., Corrada, M. M. and Kawas, C. (2009). The prevalence of disability in the oldest-old is high and increases with age: findings from 90+ study. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 24, 1217–1225.Google Scholar
Bertolote, J. M. and De Leo, D. (2012). Global suicide mortality rates: a light at the end of the tunnel? Crisis, 33, 249–253.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cheung, S. L. K. et al. (2012). Healthy longivity and health care service needs: a pilot study of the centenarians in Hong Kong. Asian Journal of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 7, 26–32.Google Scholar
Christensen, K., Doblhammer, G., Rau, R. and Vaupel, J. W. (2009). Ageing populations: the challenges ahead. Lancet, 374, 1196–1208.Google Scholar
Christensen, K., McGue, M., Petersen, I., Jeune, B. and Vaupel, J. W. (2008). Exceptional longivity does not result in excessive levels of disability. PNAS, 105, 13274–13279.Google Scholar
Coren, S. and Hewitt, P. L. (1999). Sex difference in elderly suicide rates: some predictive factors. Ageing and Mental Health, 3, 112–118.Google Scholar
De Leo, D. (1999). Cultural issues in suicide and old age. Crisis, 20, 53–55.Google Scholar
De Leo, D. and Carollo, G. (1996). Relationship between suicide and undetermined causes of death among the elderly: analysis of Italian data from 1951 to 1988. Omega, Journal of Death and Dying, 33, 215–231.Google Scholar
De Leo, D. and Spathonis, K. (2003). Suicide and euthanasia in late life. Aging, Clinical and Experimental Research, 15, 99–110.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
De Leo, D., Milner, A. and Wang, X. (2009). Suicidal behavior in the Western pacific region: characteristics and trends. Suicide and Life Threatening Behavior, 39, 72–81.Google Scholar
De Leo, D., Dudley, M., Aebersold, C., Mendoza, J., Barnes, M., Harrison, J. E. and Ranson, D. (2010). Achieving standardised reporting of suicide in Australia: rationale and program for change. Medical Journal of Australia, 192, 452–456.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
De Leo, D., Draper, B., Snowdon, J. and Kolves, K. (2013) Suicides in older adults: a case-control psychological autopsy study in Australia. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 47, 980–988.Google Scholar
Dello Buono, M., Urciuoli, O. and De Leo, D. (1998). Quality of life and longivity: a study of centenarians. Age and Ageing, 27, 207–216.Google Scholar
Dennis, M. et al. (2001). Suicide in a single health district: epidemiology and audit of the involvement of psychiatric services. Journal of Mental Health, 6, 673–682.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diekstra, R. F. W. (1989) Suicide and attemptede suicide: an international perspective. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 80 (Suppl. 354), 1–24.Google Scholar
Drefal, S., Lundstrom, H., Modig, K. and Ahlbom, A. (2012). The era of centenarians: mortality of the oldest old in Sweden. Journal of Internal Medicine, 272, 100–102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Erlangsen, A., Bille Brahe, U. and Jeune, B. (2003). Differences in suicide between the old and oldest old. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 58B, S314–S332.Google Scholar
Fortes Gomes, M. M. and Turra, C. M. (2009). The number of centenarians in Brazil. Indirect estimates based on death certificates. Demographic Research, 20, 495–502.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gessert, C. E., Elliot, B. A. and Haller, I. V. (2002). Dying of old age: an examination of death certificates of Minnesota centenarians. Journal of the American Geriatric Society, 50, 1561–1565.Google Scholar
Hedberg, P., Brulin, C. and Alex, L. (2009). Experience of purpose in life when becoming and being a very old woman. Journal of Women and Ageing, 21, 125–137.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jeune, B. (2002). Living longer – But better? Ageing, Clinical and Experimental Research, 14, 72–93.Google Scholar
Jeune, B. and Skytthe, A. (2001). Centenarians in Denmark. In the past and the present. Population: An English Selection, 13, 75–94.Google Scholar
John, S. M. and Koelmeyer, T. D. (2001). The forensic pathology of nonageneraians and centenarians: do they die of old age? (The Auckland Experience). American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology, 22, 150–154.Google Scholar
Kapusta, N. D. et al. (2011). Declining autopsy rates and suicide misclassification: a cross-national analysis of 35 countries. Archives of General Psychiatry, 68, 1050–1057.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Koch, T. (2010). Storytelling reveals the active, postivie lives of centenarians. Nursing Older People, 22, 31–36.Google Scholar
McIntosh, J. L. (1984). Components of the decline in elderly suicides: suicide in young old and old old by race and sex. Death Education, 8, 113–124.Google Scholar
Mellqvist Fassberg, M., Ostling, S., Borjesson-Hanson, A., Skoog, I. and Waern, M. (2013). Suicidal feelings in the twilight of life: a cross-sectional population-based study of 97-year-olds. British Medical Journal Open, 3, e002260. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2012-002260.Google Scholar
Moscicki, E. K. (1995) North American perspectives: epidemiology of suicide. International Psychogeriatrics, 7, 137–148.Google Scholar
Motta, M., Bennati, E., Ferlito, l., Malaguarnera, M. and Motta, L. (2004). Successful ageing in centernarians: myths and reality. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 40, 241–251.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O’Donnell, I. and Farmer, R. (1995). The limitations of official suicide statistics. British Journal of Psychiatry, 166, 458–461.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Oeppen, J. and Vaupel, J. W. (2002). Broken limits to life expectancy. Science, 296, 1029–1031.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Preston, S. H., Heuveline, P. and Guillot, M. (2000). Measuring and Modelling Popuation Processes. Oxford; Wiley-Blackwell.Google Scholar
Richmond, R. L., Law, J. and KayLamkin, F. (2011). Physical, mental, and cognitive function in a convenience sample of centenarians in Australia. Journal of the American Geriatric Society, 59, 1080–1086.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Richmond, R. L. et al. (2012). Morbidity profile and lifetime health of Australian centenarians. Australasian Journal on Ageing, 31, 227–232.Google Scholar
Sachdev, P. et al. (2013). The Sydney Centenarian Study: methodology and profile of centenarians and near centenarians. International Psychogeriatrics, 25, 993–1005.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schmidtke, A. and Weinacker, B. (1991). Suizidraten suizimethoden und unklare Todesursachen alter menschen. Zeitschrift fur Gerontologie, 24, 3–11.Google Scholar
Seiden, R. H. (1981). Mellowing with age: factors affecting the non-white suicide rate. International Journal of Ageing and Human Development, 13, 265–284.Google Scholar
Selim, A. J. et al. (2005). Comprehensive health status assessment of centenarians: results from the 1999 large health survey of veteran enrollees. Journal of Gerontology: Series A, Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, 60A, 515–519.Google Scholar
Shah, A. K. (2007a). Demographic changes among ethnic minority elders in England and Wales. Implications for development and delivery of old age psychiatry services. International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care, 3, 22–32.Google Scholar
Shah, A. K. (2007b). The relationship between suicide rate and age: an analysis of multinational data from the World Health Organisation. International Psychogeriatrics, 19, 1141–1152.Google Scholar
Shah, A. K. (2011). Elderly suicide rates: a replication of cross-national comparisons and association with sex and elderly age-bands using five year suicide data. Journal of Injury and Violence Research, 3, 80–84.Google Scholar
Shah, A. K. and Bhat, R. (2009). Does adversity earlier in life affect elderly suicide rates? Cross-national study. International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice, 13, 273–277.Google Scholar
Shah, A. K. and De, T. (1998). Suicide in the elderly. International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice, 2, 3–17.Google Scholar
Shah, A. K., Bhat, R., MacKenzie, S. and Koen, C. (2007). Elderly suicide rates: cross-national comparisons and association with sex and elderly age-bands. Medicine, Science and the Law, 47, 244–252.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shah, A. K., Elanchenny, N. and Collinge, T. (2001). Trends in age band-specific suicide rates in the elderly. Medicine Science and the Law, 41, 102–106.Google Scholar
Shah, A. K. and Ganesvaran, T. (1994) Suicide in the elderly. In Chiu, E. and Ames, D. (eds.), Functional Psychiatric Disorders of the Elderly (pp. 221–244). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Wasserman, D., Cheng, Q. and Jiang, G. X. (2005) Global suicide rates among young people aged 15–19. World Psychiatry, 4, 114–120.Google Scholar
Wastesson, J. W. et al. (2012). Drug use in centenarians compared to nonagenerians and octagenarians in Sweden: a nationwide case register study. Age and Ageing, 41, 218–224.Google Scholar
World Health Organisation (2007). International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th Revision. Geneva: World Health Organisation.Google Scholar