Zeybek Volkan, Karabağ Gökmen, Yavuz Mehmet Sunay
Manisa Celal Bayar University Faculty of Medicine Department of Forensic Medicine, Manisa, Turkey.
Manisa Celal Bayar University Faculty of Medicine Department of Forensic Medicine, Manisa, Turkey.
J Forensic Leg Med. 2023 Apr;95:102498. doi: 10.1016/j.jflm.2023.102498. Epub 2023 Feb 8.
Due to the unique physical and psychosocial characteristics of this age group, it is expected that the characteristics of elderly suicides are different from other groups. Knowing the characteristics of elderly suicides guides prevention strategies. The objective of this study was to evaluate the demographic characteristics, methods and reasons for suicide in elderly suicide cases using the data of the Turkish Statistical Institute between 2002 and 2019. Of the completed suicides among older adults, 4,208 (74%) cases were men and 1,481 (26%) were women. Crude suicide rates of all elderly age groups were higher than the general population. Illness was the most common reason for suicide. The second leading cause of suicide was marital conflicts in women, while financial difficulties were observed in men. Hanging was the most common method in both genders. It is remarkable that the use of gunshot considerably increases as years progress and the ratio of men (n:962) to women (n:16) reach 60. Considering these findings together with epidemiologic data predicting that this increase in the elderly population will almost double within less than 30 years, it is apparent that suicide is a major issue among older adults.
由于该年龄组独特的生理和心理社会特征，预计老年自杀的特征与其他群体不同。了解老年自杀的特征有助于制定预防策略。本研究的目的是利用土耳其统计局2002年至2019年的数据，评估老年自杀案例中的人口统计学特征、自杀方法和原因。在老年人完成的自杀案例中，4208例（74%）为男性，1481例（26%）为女性。所有老年年龄组的粗自杀率均高于普通人群。疾病是自杀最常见的原因。女性自杀的第二大原因是婚姻冲突，而男性则是经济困难。上吊是两性最常见的自杀方法。值得注意的是，随着时间的推移，枪击自杀的使用率大幅上升，男性（n=962）与女性（n=16）的比例达到60。结合流行病学数据预测，老年人口在不到30年内几乎会翻倍，这些发现表明自杀是老年人中的一个主要问题。
