A recent study found frailty was associated with suicide attempt risk among U.S. veterans ages 65 and older.
Study participants were 2,858,876 veterans (mean age 75.4) who received care at U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers from October 1, 2011, through September 13, 2013. The sample population was 2.3% female and 97.7% male, 9.0% non-Hispanic Black, 87.8% non-Hispanic White, and 2.6% “other” or unknown ethnicity. Among all participants, 16.6% had diagnosed substance use disorder (SUD) and 6.8% had diagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The study integrated databases from VA health care services, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and other national suicide data. Using suicide attempts through December 31, 2017, as the main outcome measure, researchers analyzed degree of frailty categorized into five levels (nonfrailty; prefrailty; and mild, moderate, and severe frailty).
The researchers found that the risk of suicide attempts was higher in veterans with all levels of frailty compared to those without frailty. Risk of lethal suicide attempts was associated with lower levels of frailty. A total of 8,995 (0.3%) participants had a documented suicide attempt and 5,497 had died by suicide by the end of the study period. The greatest percentage of suicide attempts was found among those with mild or moderate frailty and the smallest percentage among those without frailty. Veterans with prefrailty had the highest cumulative incidence of fatal suicide attempts over time. The risk of any suicide attempt was 48% higher among older veterans with moderate frailty compared to veterans without frailty. The presence of chronic pain, use of durable medical equipment (e.g., motorized wheelchair), lung disease, SUD, PTSD, or other mental health disorder increased the risk of suicide attempts as well as deaths.
Read more at SPRC.org.
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