Nowers M, Irish M
J R Coll Gen Pract. 1988 Feb;38(307):67-9.
Trends in the reported rates of suicide by self-poisoning in the elderly from 1974 to 1984 are presented. When all drugs were considered together there was evidence of a slow but progressive decline in age specific rates of suicide in both sexes over the period studied. When individual drugs were considered, however, the overall fall was attributable almost exclusively to a fall in suicides using barbiturates, which reflected the decrease in barbiturate prescribing over this time. Suicides using other drugs, particularly benzodiazepines and analgesics for mild to moderate pain, increased, particularly among elderly women, with coproxamol showing the biggest increase over the period studied. In many cases deaths were the result of multiple drug ingestion. Implications for the management of the elderly at risk are discussed in the context of the difficulties in identifying depressive illness in the elderly and the general rise in the elderly population.
本文呈现了1974年至1984年间老年人自我中毒自杀报告率的趋势。当将所有药物综合考虑时，有证据表明在所研究的时间段内，两性按年龄划分的自杀率呈缓慢但持续的下降趋势。然而，当考虑个别药物时，总体下降几乎完全归因于使用巴比妥类药物自杀的人数减少，这反映了这段时间内巴比妥类药物处方量的下降。使用其他药物自杀的人数增加，特别是使用苯二氮卓类药物和用于轻至中度疼痛的镇痛药自杀的人数增加，尤其是老年女性，在研究期间，右丙氧芬自杀人数的增加幅度最大。在许多情况下，死亡是多种药物摄入的结果。鉴于识别老年人抑郁症存在困难以及老年人口总体增加的情况，文中讨论了对有自杀风险的老年人进行管理的意义。
