Elderly More Apt to Reveal Suicidal Intentions When Aging, Study Says

More than 1 out of 5 elderly adults committing suicide reveal their intention prior to taking their own lives, a research found out.

All in all, 23 percent of suicide victims ages 50 and above disclose their suicidal intentions to another individual about a month before they commit the act, the research discovered. Rates of disclosure turned out higher in the elderly, especially those with chronic conditions.

Those who commit suicide without revealing their thoughts may not opt to do so if they feel like their family members and healthcare providers would force treating them or dismiss such revelation, Namkee Choi, the research’s lead author, pointed out in an email to the Washington Post.

As such, Choi also suggested that home care services providers and other caregivers routinely examine risk of suicide together with access to guns and other ways to commit suicide.

The study was conducted by examining data involving 46,857 deaths in adults ages 50 and above from 2005 to 2014.