Background:

Elderly people have a high prevalence of mental disorder, low demand for care and increased risk of suicidal behaviour. Psychiatric emergency care may be the gateway to health services. Therefore, the aims of this study were: 1) to compare the profile of people aged sixty-five years and older seen for suicide attempts (SA) and those seen for other mental health problems in hospital psychiatric emergency departments; and 2) to establish the specificity of the Columbia Screening Scale (C-SSRS) in the exploration of suicide risk.

Methods:

We carried out a secondary analysis of a descriptive, multicentre, observational, descriptive study comparing all persons seen for SA (n=21) and a control group (n=27) seen for another reason, between January and October 2015. Non-parametric analyses were performed on sociodemographic and clinical variables, stressful life events experienced and C-SSRS.

Results:

1) Among those attending for SA, 52.4% were men while those attending for another reason accounted for 18.5%. 2) 38.1% of those attending for SA were in mental health follow-up compared to 66.7% of those attending for other reasons. 3) C-SSRS screening discriminated between those seen for SA and those seen for other reasons.

Conclusions:

SA in older men may be the opportunity to initiate care and continuity of care in mental health services. The use of the C-SSRS scale in hospital psychiatric emergency departments is recommended.

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