Absolute and age-relative suicide-rates for women and men age 60 years and older, at the global, region, and nation level, 1990-2019: a systematic analysis of the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019 data

Abstract

Suicide-rates are highest among older adults. Yet, older-adult suicide has been under-studied, particularly in relation to suicide in other age-groups, and by sex and location. Age-standardized suicide-rates (ASSR) of older-adults (OA) (ages 60-years-and-older) and non-older-adults (NOA) (ages 10-59 years), and the ratio of OA-to-NOA ASSR, for the 1990-2019 period, were calculated based on 2019 Global-Burden-of-Disease (GBD) data. OA absolute and age-relative ASSR were examined by country/nation/territory Socio-Demographic Index (SDI). There was a significant negative-correlation between OA-to-NOA ASSR and SDI. OA-to-NOA ASSR-ratios were larger in women in many regions, though OA ASSR were lower among women. The finding that OA had higher age-relative suicide-rates in lower socioeconomic-position regions challenges the belief that OA-suicide is a problem of higher socioeconomic-position regions. The fact that in many regions OA age-relative suicide-rates were higher in women than in men challenge the belief that OA women are protected from suicide.