Suicide Risk in the Hospitalized Elderly in Turkey and Affecting Factors

This study aimed to investigate the suicide risk among the elderly hospitalized and treated because of physical illnesses, and the factors affecting the risk.

The study has a cross-sectional design. It was conducted with 459 elderly people hospitalized and treated in a public hospital between May 25, 2015 and December 4, 2015. Data were collected with the Personal Information Form, Suicide Probability Scale and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. For the analysis, descriptive statistics, the chi-square test, Fisher's exact test and logistic regression analysis were used.

In the study, 24.0% of the elderly were at high risk for suicide. Suicide risk was even higher among the elderly in the 60-74 age group, living alone, drinking alcohol, perceiving his/her religious beliefs as weak, being treated for cancer, having the diagnosis 11 years or over, having a history of admission to a psychiatry clinic, and being at risk for anxiety and depression.

In the study, approximately one out of every four elderly people was at high risk for suicide. Therefore, older people should be assessed for suicide risk and programs targeting to prevent the elderly from committing suicide should be organized.