Objective: To examine the demographic, prescription, ingestion, and psychiatric diagnostic factors that distinguished elderly from nonelderly patients treated for deliberate self-poisoning (DSP). Method: A prospective case series study of 2,667 patients presenting to a regional referral center for poisoning (Newcastle Mater Hospital, NSW, Australia), January 1991 to July 1998. The sample was stratified into two groups, 65 years or greater (n = 110) and 64 years or less (n = 2,557) at the time of index admission. The groups were compared using a forward stepwise logistic regression model. Uncontrolled comparisons were analyzed by chi-square statistic with Bonferroni-adjusted p values and controlled comparisons by odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI). Results: The elderly group represented 4.1% of the total. The logistic regression analysis found the elderly DSP group was more likely to have a longer length of stay (OR 5.90, CI 3.87–9.00), to have been prescribed “other” drugs (neither benzodiazepines, mood treatment drugs, nor paracetamol) before admission (OR 5.32, CI 3.34–8.48), to have been prescribed benzodiazepines (OR 3.15, CI 2.03–4.89), and to be diagnosed with major depression (OR 2.17, CI 1.41–3.36) than the younger group. The elderly group was less likely to have ingested paracetamol (OR 0.28, CI 0.14–0.54) or “other” drugs (neither benzodiazepines nor mood treatment drugs) in the DSP episode (OR 0.33, CI 0.20–0.54). Discussion: Elderly DSP patients differ in several important respects from younger patients. They have higher morbidity as a result of the DSP. Major depression plays a more important role. The strong relationship between benzodiazepine prescription and DSP in the elderly raises questions and possible prevention strategies.

Excavations undertaken at Quarrington, near Sleaford, Lincolnshire, revealed part of an Early and Middle Saxon settlement with associated fields or enclosures. Several timber buildings were identified, both round and rectangular, and there was evidence of ferrous and non-ferrous metalworking at the site. Finds included a large and regionally significant pottery assemblage, showing that Quarrington had an extensive trading network and obtained pottery from Lincolnshire and Leicestershire in the Early Saxon period. Pottery from the Northamptonshire area dominated the assemblage in the Middle Saxon period, with a smaller component from Lincolnshire and a limited quantity from Ipswich. Spatial variations in the Saxon ceramic assemblage suggest that the focus of settlement shifted towards the west or north west in the Middle Saxon period.

Few rural sites of Early and Middle Saxon date have produced sufficient faunal material to permit an analysis of changes during the fifth to eighth centuries until now; the large bone assemblage from Quarrington indicates changes in diet and the husbandry of domestic animals through time, with sheep becoming more important as pig diminished. Alterations to the slaughter profiles of cattle and sheep were also evident and may indicate changes from subsistence to surplus production. An apparently isolated Neolithic cremation and a post-medieval stone building were also revealed.