title: A cross-national study of the relationship between elderly suicide rates and urbaninzation.
abstract: There is mixed evidence of a relationship between suicide rates in the general population and urbanization, and a paucity of studies examining this relationship in the elderly. A cross-national study with curve estimation regression model analysis, was undertaken to examine the a priori hypothesis that the relationship between elderly suicide rates and urbanization would be curvilinear and follow an inverted U-shaped curve. There was a curvilinear relationship between male suicide rates in both the elderly age-bands and the percentage of the population living in urban areas, but this was not observed in females. A three-stage sequential model was developed to explain the observed relationship between suicide rates in elderly males and urbanization. The relationship between suicide rates in elderly females and urbanization.
authors.affiliation: Ethnicity, and Mental Health, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, United Kingdom and Consultant Psychiatrist, West London Mental Health NHS Trust in London, UK. ajit.shah@wlmht.nhs.uk
authors.forename: Ajit
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shah
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D012737:Sex Factors; D013405:Suicide / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014507:Urbanization