The rate of screening for self-harm, suicidal ideation, or suicide attempts in the emergency department is lower among older patients, according to a recent study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
For the study, researchers examined data collected from more than 140,000 visits to eight EDs in seven states, all of which had protocols in place to screen every patient for suicide risk. The analysis revealed that documented screening for suicidal tendencies declined from 81 percent in younger age groups to a low of 68 percent in the oldest age group consisting of individuals 85 and older.
Researchers also found the number of patients identified for suicide risk declined with age, with the rates peaking at 9 percent among the young and middle-aged and bottoming out at 1.2 percent among individuals older than 75 years of age.
"It is unclear whether our findings are from a bias in care or from older patients being less able to answer questions because of conditions like dementia," said Marian Betz, MD, the study's lead author and an emergency medicine physician with University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora. "Additional research and program development could hopefully help providers better identify older adults at risk of suicide."
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