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Differences in suicide behaviour in the elderly: a study in two provinces of Northern Italy
- Authors:
- ZEPPEGNO P., et al
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 20(8), August 2005, pp.769-775.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
This study investigates the suicide phenomenon among older people (people aged 65 and over) in the Italian provinces of Novara and Verbania, in the time span between January 1990 and December 2000, in order to evaluate if the characteristics of the suicide behaviour correlate to the place of living with particular attention to the psychosocial factors. The information was collected from the Republic Procuration of the two provinces. Frequencies and contingency tables were evaluated to compare the data found in the two provinces. Standardised Mortality Ratios (SMRs) with their confidential intervals (95% confidence intervals) were calculated in comparison with the average suicide rates in North West Italy in the same period and in the same age group. One hundred and eighty-four suicides were committed from the elderly, with an average rate of 14.07 per 100,000 inhabitants in Novara and 25.56 in Verbania. The most common methods used to commit suicide were hanging and jumping from height. The factors chiefly related to suicide were mental disease, followed by organic illness. The analysis of SMRs point out that the incidence of suicide in the province of Verbania is higher than in North West Italy while in Novara it is lower. The evaluation of the suicide risk in the elderly in a diagnostic and preventive framework must take into consideration the psychosocial factors that vary with the place of living.
Suicidal behaviour in nursing homes: a survey in a region of north-east Italy
- Authors:
- SCOCCO Paolo, et al
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 21(4), April 2006, pp.307-311.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
The complete list of Nursing Homes was provided by the Regional Department of Health for the Veneto region, in the North-East of Italy. Structured interviews were completed with nursing home managers, inquiring about nursing home, staff and management characteristics, mental health care available and the number of completed and attempted suicides (AS) in 2001 made by residents older than 65 years, occurring either inside or outside nursing homes. All facilities which reported suicidal events were asked additional information. In the study period, five completed suicides and eight AS were reported. All but one suicides and one AS had a history of mental disorders. Seven subjects had been living in a nursing home for less than one year. There were no significant differences in the frequency of suicidal events between the facilities which employed or did not employ mental health workers. The suicide rate found in this facility sample is much higher than the rate reported by the Italian National Statistic Institute for the over-65-year-old population of the Veneto Region in 2001, and is similar to the rate reported in a previous study conducted in another country. It is concluded that in Veneto nursing homes behavioural control of residents, lack of access to a variety of means used for suicidal purposes and medical supervision does not seem to have protected the nursing home population from suicidal risks.
Personality and suicidal ideation in the elderly: factorial invariance and latent means structures across age
- Authors:
- ILICETO Paolo, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Aging and Mental Health, 18(6), 2014, pp.792-800.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Objectives: Suicide among the elderly is a dramatic global health problem. Although fatal attempts are frequent in the elderly, research indicated that they rarely present long-term elaboration of suicidal ideation and communicate their intents. Consequently, risk factor detection and assessment are salient. Although evidence on the association between personality and suicidal ideation in young adults is accumulating, little is known about its relevance in the elderly. The purpose of the present study was to analyse the components of a measurement model that are invariant across young adults and older adults and then investigate the relations among dimensions of personality and suicide risk. The authors postulated a specific relation pattern a priori and tested the hypotheses statistically in order to examine the models for equivalency of the factorial measurement. Method: 316 young adults and 339 older adults, who were administered self-report questionnaires to assess depression, hopelessness, alternative five-factor model of personality, and self–other perception were investigated. Results: Multigroup confirmatory factor analyses were conducted, yielding a final model with excellent fit to the data. This model showed a similar pattern of associations between suicidal ideation and personality across both groups. Conclusions: Although the elderly are exposed to specific life stressors associated with suicidal ideation, the findings suggest that the elderly and young adults may be similar on personality and psychopathology variables predicting suicidal ideation than previously hypothesized. Implications are provided for enhanced assessment and intervention of the elderly high in neuroticism, depression, hopelessness, and with negative self–other perception. (Edited publisher abstract)
Open trial on crisis psychotherapy in Padova, Italy
- Authors:
- PAVAN I., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention, 3(1), Spring 2003, pp.37-46.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
Crisis psychotherapy is addressed to patients with feelings of impotence: a precise psychological correlate characteristic of the crisis situation. Associated with this picture are anxious-depressive and personality disorders. Prevention focuses on recovering previous level of functioning in order to forestall the evolution of maladaptive behaviors that may in turn lead to chronic pathology or suicide. The aim of this study was to preliminarily assess symptom outcome in 42 cases treated with the model adopted in Padua, Italy. Assessment was based on various instruments to explore depression (Beck Depression Inventory [BDI], Hamilton Depression Rating Scale [HRSD]), anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Expression Inventory [STAI]), anger (State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory [STAXI]), global functioning (Global Assessment Scale [GAS]), social adjustment (Social Adaption Self Evaluation Scale [SASS]), stressful events, and personality (Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV [SCID II]). Depression and anxiety levels displayed a significant decrease at the end of treatment. There was also a significant reduction in levels of trait anxiety and anger, probably indicating a "return to baseline" after a destabilizing experience. These effects mark a "traumatic" impasse resulting from stressful life events that may be either real external events or subjectively traumatic psychological events. Other positive effects of the therapy were improvement in global functioning and renewed interest in social relations. Some degree of comorbidity with personality disorders emerged, especially from DSM-IV clusters C and B. Further controlled studies are warranted to assess the effect of spontaneous remission on this intervention technique.