Medscape (4/1, Brauser) reports that research presented March 28 at the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry’s annual meeting suggests that “receiving a diagnosis of a life-threatening illness may be a significant determinant of suicidal ideation in older adults.” The study, which included “more than 3000 adults aged 55 years or older, showed that those who had a traumatic accident/illness were three times more likely to also have suicidal ideation than those who did not experience that type of trauma.” But, “within this trauma category, only life-threatening illness was significantly associated with late-life suicidal ideation; a life-threatening accident or toxic chemical/substance exposure did not have significant associations.”
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