title: Correlates of suicide in the older adult population in Quebec.
abstract: This study was undertaken to describe the characteristics of adults aged 60 years and over who committed suicide in Quebec in 1998-1999. In this study, 42.6% of the suicide cases presented mental disorders at the time of their death, mainly depression. Sixty-five (65.3%) percent of the suicide cases would have been considered as having a mental health disorder if sub-threshold depression cases were included. Only 27.7% of the cases did not express any idea of death during the 6-month period preceding their suicide. One interesting finding was that 53.5% of the suicide cases consulted a general practitioner or specialist during the 2-week period preceding their death. Our results showed that only 8.1% had a severe level of functional limitations at the time of their death. This result leads us to interpret with caution the conclusion of some studies suggesting that physical frailty is a major causal factor associated with suicide among the elderly.
authors.affiliation: Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada. michel.preville@usherbrooke.ca
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Préville
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Boyer
authors.forename: Réjean
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hébert
authors.forename: Gina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bravo
authors.forename: Monique
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Seguin
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011792:Quebec / Q000453:epidemiology; D012042:Registries; D013405:Suicide / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires