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KMID : 0607520150230020100
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Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
2015 Volume.23 No. 2 p.100 ~ p.106
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The Clinical Characteristics of Elderly Suicide Attempters Visiting Emergency Room
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Shin Hyun-Woo
Lee Kang-Joon
Kim Hyun
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Abstract
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Objectives : The purpose of this study was to find out the clinical and sociodemographic characteristics of elderly suicide attempters visiting emergency room, compared to non-elderly adult suicide attempters.
Methods : We enrolled suicidal attempters who were treated in the emergency room of the Inje University Ilsan Paik Hospital between June 2013 and July 2015. We conducted a retrospective chart review of 336 suicidal attempters, and compared sociodemographic and clinical characteristics between elderly and non-elderly adult suicide attempters.
Results : During the study period, 336 patients visited the emergency room of the medical center after suicide attempts. Among these, there were 71 elderly(21.2%) and 265 non-elderly adult(79.8%) suicide attempters. The suicidal methods among elderly were poisoning(73.3%), hanging(19.7%), cutting(5.6%), and jumping(1.4%). Those in non-elderly were poisoning(73.2%), cutting(17.0%), hanging(6.8%), and jumping(3.0%). The elderly suicide attempters had the tendency to choose more dangerous methods and showed higher lethality compared to adult suicide attempters(20.6% vs. 1.9%, , p<0.05). On the other hand, premorbid psychiatric disorders had been more commonly diagnosed in non-elderly adults than elderly suicide attempters(49.8% vs. 26.8%, , p<0.05).
Conclusions : The results provide evidence of different sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of elderly suicide attempters compared to non-elderly ones visiting the emergency room. Through this study, it can be seen that the suicide attempt in the elderly tends to be severer than in the non-elderly, but only a small portion of them seek for help from psychiatric intervention. Further study is required to provide effective suicide prevention programs for elderly population.
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KEYWORD
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Suicide attempt, Elderly, Emergency room
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