Analysis of suicide mortality and disease burden among elderly adults in Wuhan in 2014 - 2019 / 公共卫生与预防医学

ABSTRACT

Objective To analyze the trend of suicide mortality among the elderly aged 60 years and above in Wuhan from 2014 to 2019, to understand the disease burden of suicide deaths among the elderly adults in Wuhan, and to provide a basis for decision making to carry out suicide interventions in the elderly population. Methods The data on suicide deaths in the elderly adults of Wuhan residents whose death age was 60 years or older were collected from 2014 to 2019 using the Wuhan City's Cause of Death Monitoring Information System. Mortality, standardized mortality, years of life lost (YLL) due to early death and average years of life lost (AYLL) were calculated separately. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 26.0. The χ2 test was used to compare the suicide mortality rates among the elderly population by gender and region, and the annual percentage change (APC) was used for trend analysis. Results From 2014 to 2019, a total of 1010 suicide deaths were reported among elderly adults aged 60 years and older in Wuhan, with crude suicide mortality rates ranging from 7.60 to 10.77/100 000. The suicide mortality rate of elderly men was higher than that of elderly women. The suicide mortality rate of rural elderly adults was higher than that of urban elderly adults, and the suicide mortality rate of the rural elderly was decreasing. The overall suicide mortality rate of elderly people in Wuhan increased significantly with age, and the differences between the average suicide mortality rates of elderly males and elderly females in 2014-2019 were statistically significant among all age groups (P<0.01 or P<0.05). From 2014 to 2019, the YLL rate of suicide death among the elderly in Wuhan showed a trend of decreasing first and then increasing, and AYLL kept a slight fluctuation as a whole. The trends of both YLL rate and AYLL changes were not statistically significant. Conclusion The suicide mortality rate of elderly adults aged 60 years and above in Wuhan is high, especially in rural elderly men. The burden of disease caused by suicide deaths in the elderly is high, so it is necessary to take a variety of targeted measures to prevent and reduce the incidence of suicide among the elderly.