Conwell Yeates, Duberstein Paul R, Connor Kenneth, Eberly Shirley, Cox Christopher, Caine Eric D
Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester School of Medicine, NY 14642-8409, USA.
Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2002 Jul-Aug;10(4):407-16.
Elderly white men are at the highest risk for suicide. Firearms are the most common method of suicide used by both men and women in later life, and a greater proportion of older than younger suicide victims use a gun. This psychological autopsy study aimed to test hypotheses concerning the risk for suicide associated with access to and storage of firearms. Subjects included 86 suicide victims age 50 years of age and over and 86 community control subjects individually matched on age, sex, race, and county of residence. Presence of a firearm in the home was associated with increased risk for suicide, even after controlling for psychiatric illness. Elevated risk was accounted for by access to handguns rather than long guns and was more pronounced in men than women. Among subjects who kept a gun in the home, storing the weapon loaded and unlocked were independent predictors of suicide. Findings support the potential benefit for suicide prevention of restricting access to handguns. Education programs for older persons, their families, and healthcare providers concerning the risks of having a gun in the home and reinforcement of rules for safe storage may contribute to reducing the rate of suicide in older people.
老年白人男性自杀风险最高。枪支是老年人中男性和女性最常用的自杀方式，与年轻自杀受害者相比，更大比例的老年自杀受害者使用枪支。这项心理解剖学研究旨在检验与获取和存放枪支相关的自杀风险假说。研究对象包括86名年龄在50岁及以上的自杀受害者和86名在年龄、性别、种族和居住县方面与之匹配的社区对照对象。即使在控制了精神疾病因素后，家中有枪支仍与自杀风险增加有关。手枪而非长枪的获取导致风险升高，且在男性中比女性更为明显。在家中存放枪支的研究对象中，存放上膛且未上锁的武器是自杀的独立预测因素。研究结果支持限制获取手枪对预防自杀的潜在益处。针对老年人及其家庭以及医疗保健提供者开展关于家中持有枪支风险的教育项目，并强化安全存放规则，可能有助于降低老年人的自杀率。
