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Firearm Suicides in the Elderly: A Narrative Review and Call for Action

Firearm suicides are one of the leading causes of death for older Americans. The purpose of this review is to explore the risk factors associated with suicides in the elderly, provide an overview of the epidemiology of firearm-related suicides in older Americans, and explore methods of preventing fi...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Price, James H., Khubchandani, Jagdish
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Springer US 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7864138/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33547617
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10900-021-00964-7
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author Price, James H.
Khubchandani, Jagdish
author_facet Price, James H.
Khubchandani, Jagdish
author_sort Price, James H.
collection PubMed
description Firearm suicides are one of the leading causes of death for older Americans. The purpose of this review is to explore the risk factors associated with suicides in the elderly, provide an overview of the epidemiology of firearm-related suicides in older Americans, and explore methods of preventing firearm suicides in the elderly. The vast majority (70 %) of elderly suicides in the U.S were committed using a firearm. Elderly firearm suicides have increased by 49 % between 2010 and 2018, disproportionately affecting white males. Yearly firearm suicides in the elderly ranged from 4,276 in 2010 to 6,375 in 2018. In 2018, the rate of elderly male firearm suicides was 24.96/100,000 compared to a rate of 1.92/100,000 for elderly females, a rate ratio of 13 to 1 for males compared to females. The primary risk factors for elderly firearm suicides seem to be physical illnesses, mental illnesses, and social factors. Older Americans engage in suicidal behaviors with greater planning and lethality of intent than do young adults. Of all the strategies to prevent suicides with firearms, the most efficacious measures based on current research seem to be state firearm legislation and improving mental healthcare, but these effects are not specific to the elderly. Strengthening state firearm laws and improving mental healthcare for the elderly may have promise in preventing elderly firearm-related suicides. Additional implications for practice and research are discussed in this review.
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spelling pubmed-78641382021-02-09 Firearm Suicides in the Elderly: A Narrative Review and Call for Action Price, James H. Khubchandani, Jagdish J Community Health Review Firearm suicides are one of the leading causes of death for older Americans. The purpose of this review is to explore the risk factors associated with suicides in the elderly, provide an overview of the epidemiology of firearm-related suicides in older Americans, and explore methods of preventing firearm suicides in the elderly. The vast majority (70 %) of elderly suicides in the U.S were committed using a firearm. Elderly firearm suicides have increased by 49 % between 2010 and 2018, disproportionately affecting white males. Yearly firearm suicides in the elderly ranged from 4,276 in 2010 to 6,375 in 2018. In 2018, the rate of elderly male firearm suicides was 24.96/100,000 compared to a rate of 1.92/100,000 for elderly females, a rate ratio of 13 to 1 for males compared to females. The primary risk factors for elderly firearm suicides seem to be physical illnesses, mental illnesses, and social factors. Older Americans engage in suicidal behaviors with greater planning and lethality of intent than do young adults. Of all the strategies to prevent suicides with firearms, the most efficacious measures based on current research seem to be state firearm legislation and improving mental healthcare, but these effects are not specific to the elderly. Strengthening state firearm laws and improving mental healthcare for the elderly may have promise in preventing elderly firearm-related suicides. Additional implications for practice and research are discussed in this review. Springer US 2021-02-05 2021 /pmc/articles/PMC7864138/ /pubmed/33547617 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10900-021-00964-7 Text en © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC part of Springer Nature 2021 This article is made available via the PMC Open Access Subset for unrestricted research re-use and secondary analysis in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for the duration of the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic.
spellingShingle Review
Price, James H.
Khubchandani, Jagdish
Firearm Suicides in the Elderly: A Narrative Review and Call for Action
title Firearm Suicides in the Elderly: A Narrative Review and Call for Action
title_full Firearm Suicides in the Elderly: A Narrative Review and Call for Action
title_fullStr Firearm Suicides in the Elderly: A Narrative Review and Call for Action
title_full_unstemmed Firearm Suicides in the Elderly: A Narrative Review and Call for Action
title_short Firearm Suicides in the Elderly: A Narrative Review and Call for Action
title_sort firearm suicides in the elderly: a narrative review and call for action
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7864138/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33547617
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10900-021-00964-7
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