Nearly one-quarter of older Americans who took their own lives told someone about their intentions before doing so, a new study reveals. Researchers reviewed 10 years of national data and found that 23 percent of people aged 50 and older who killed themselves had disclosed their suicide intent. The older they were, the more likely they were to disclose, the investigators found.

Any indication of suicidal thoughts is an opportunity for prevention, said study lead investigator Namkee Choi. She is chair in gerontology at the University of Texas at Austin.

Doctors and others "need better preparation to screen and aid those in need to prevent suicide," Choi said.

People with depression and health problems, and those who had recently received mental health care or treatment for drug or alcohol abuse, were also likely to say something before trying to kill themselves, the study found.

Disclosure was most often to an intimate partner or other family member, the findings showed. Few older adults who died by suicide had talked about it with a health care professional.

People who killed themselves with guns or through hanging/suffocation were less likely to disclose their intentions ahead of time. Among those who used guns, disclosure was more common among men than women, according to the report.

"Depressed mood, health problems and other stressors were associated with increased odds of disclosure," Choi said in a journal news release. So a "suicide may have been prevented by providing the services needed to alleviate these problems," she suggested.

For many elderly people, old age is characterized by various losses: physiological, functional, social, cognitive, financial, etc.

The outcomes of such losses often include, more often than not, environmental isolation, a subjective feeling of loneliness, anxiety, depression, and frequently, loss of motivation to continue living.

In light of the rise in life expectancy and the multitude of losses which can be associated with the aging process, it is probable that one out of five elderly persons will spend part of his/her life in a long term care institute. Such living arrangements may have negative effects on the mental health of its residents, because placement is often accompanied by feelings of lack of control over one's own life, and inability to make decisions regarding daily issues.

Elderly persons living in the community (227: 78 men, 149 women) and 91 living in nursing homes (33 men, 58 women), in both independent and frail functional status (ADL), participated in the study.

Findings show significantly more hopelessness, helplessness, and depression among residents of nursing homes compared to those living in the community, differences between men and women living in both environments, and a correlation between other demographic variables and the three dependent variables of the study. The conclusions of the study indicate a need to pay interdisciplinary attention to the mental health of elderly residents of nursing homes, particularly in the preliminary stages of placement and adjustment.

    HealthDay