[Attempted suicide in the aged]. / Tentatives de suicide chez la personne âgée.

Elderly people suicide or attempted suicide commands reflection. Some suicide-leading factors provide conspicuous risk markers. This retrospective analysis of 141 patients older than 65 yr, admitted in Lorient hospital emergency unit between 1986 and 1995, confirms the reality of risk factors, allowing to sketch a portrait of potential suicides so that preventive actions could be taken.