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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Aging Psychiatry
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1489874
This article is part of the Research Topic Suicide in Geriatric Populations View all 9 articles

Suicide in Older Adults in Honduras: A Retrospective Analysis (2008-2022)

Provisionally accepted
María José Irías María José Irías *Virna Julisa López Virna Julisa López Pablo Yup de Leon Pablo Yup de Leon
  • National Autonomous University of Honduras, Tegucigalpa, Honduras

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    INTRODUCTION: This study examines suicide among older adults in Honduras over a 15-year period (2008-2022). METHODS: Data were collected from the National Violence Observatory attached to the University Institute of Democracy, Peace and Security of the National Autonomous University of Honduras (ONV-IUDPAS-UNAH), and 593 suicide cases were analyzed with a quantitative approach of descriptive scope, to identify suicide decedent characteristics and patterns in the cases. RESULTS: It was observed that 94.1% of the suicide decedents were male, with an average age of 70 years, predominantly from urban areas; the highest prevalence was in 2021 (7.77), generally in the mornings and mostly by hanging or asphyxiation in private spaces. DISCUSSION: There is a significant difference in the prevalence of suicide by gender (16 males per female). Similar to worldwide reports, an increase in post-pandemic suicides is observed. The aging of the population and the increasing incidence of suicide in older adults gives relevance to this study, which has been limited by the lack of systematic data collection and previous research that would allow a better understanding of the problem and, in turn, the generation of public policies focused on the mental health of older adults.

    Keywords: Mental Health, Epidemiology of suicide, Depression, suicide in elderly, older adults

    Received: 02 Sep 2024; Accepted: 21 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Irías, López and Yup de Leon. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: María José Irías, National Autonomous University of Honduras, Tegucigalpa, Honduras

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