Tadros George, Salib Emad
Old Age Psychiatry, Queen Elizabeth Psychiatric Hospital, Birmingham, UK.
Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2007 Aug;22(8):750-6. doi: 10.1002/gps.1734.
Primary care is probably the most suitable setting to start a strategy for suicide prevention for the elderly especially as more people are seen before committing suicide in primary care than in secondary care.
This study examines the nature of complaints and timing of presentation to general practitioners by suicide victims in their last GP consultation, comparing persons aged 65 and over with those aged between 18 and 64.
Details of all cases of suicide verdict and open verdict, which were returned in inquests, held at the Coroner's Court of Birmingham and Solihull, between January 1995 and December 1999 were reviewed. The study provided a comparison between older people (65+) and younger adults.
Older people had more physical illness, and were more likely to have seen their GP in the 6 months before suicide. Younger adults presented with more psychiatric symptoms, while older adults presented with more physical symptoms. Complaints to the GP in the last consultation were significantly different between the two age groups. Older people are more commonly present with physical pain and depression.
The study found that elderly suicide victims had different characteristics and attributes from those of younger adults presenting to primary care. This difference may have implications for suicide research, training of primary care staff and suicide prevention programmes.
初级保健可能是启动老年人自杀预防策略的最合适场所，尤其是因为在初级保健机构中，在自杀前被诊治的人数比二级保健机构更多。
本研究调查了自杀受害者在最后一次全科医生会诊时的投诉性质和就诊时间，比较了65岁及以上人群与18至64岁人群。
回顾了1995年1月至1999年12月在伯明翰和索利哈尔验尸官法庭进行的死因调查中返回的所有自杀裁决和存疑裁决案件的详细信息。该研究对老年人（65岁及以上）和年轻人进行了比较。
老年人身体疾病更多，在自杀前6个月内看全科医生的可能性更大。年轻人出现更多精神症状，而老年人出现更多身体症状。两个年龄组在最后一次会诊时向全科医生提出的投诉有显著差异。老年人更常出现身体疼痛和抑郁。
该研究发现，老年自杀受害者与到初级保健机构就诊的年轻人具有不同的特征和属性。这种差异可能对自杀研究、初级保健人员培训和自杀预防计划产生影响。
