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Hands reaching to shake each other
Data on Elderly Male Suicide in Idaho
 
Elderly Males, 75 years and above
The suicide rate among elderly males, age 75 or older, is the highest of any special population. Estimates place the suicide rate for men 75 or older at 37.4 deaths per 100,000 and at 61.0 per 100,000 for men 85 or older (CDC MMWD, July 7, 2006/55-26). By comparison, the suicide rate for the general population for the same year was 11.1 deaths per 100,000 and 22.81 deaths per 100,000 for males ages 18-64 (CDC, 2006). Within the elderly population, elderly men account for 81% of completed suicides (Szanto, Prigerson & Reynolds III, 2001), and white men who are age 85 and older had a rate of 49.8 suicide deaths per 100,000 or higher for the 85+ age group (NIH Older Adults: Depression and Suicide Fact Sheet, 2003). This phenomenon is not limited to the United States. Szanto, Gildengers, Mulsant, Brown, Alexopoulos, Reynolds (2002) found that men aged 75 years and older have the highest suicide rate among all age groups in almost all industrialized countries.

Men in the 75+ age group have risk factors common to other populations, such as undetected or unmanaged depression, alcohol or drug use, and ready access to effective suicide means. Men in the 75+ age group also have the risk factors that elevate suicide risk for men in general, such as poor or absent emotional reasoning skills, poor help seeking skills and fear of stigma from receiving mental health support, etc. Men in the 75+ age group also have the risk factors associated with working age males including grave health conditions, traditional male role pressures, changing or declining economic status, among others.

In addition to the burdens imposed by all of the risk factors above, a number of risk factors have been identified that are specific to men 75 years and older. Loss of daily function, visual impairment, rapidly declining health, grief over the loss of their spouse, reduced living circumstances and social isolation have all been documented for the 75+ year old male. Given that a risk factor is defined as something that predisposes or increases the risk of a behavior or negative outcome, it should not be surprising that men 75 years and older have a very high risk of suicide. Even an elderly male with no suicidal tendencies carries a high risk for suicide. Fortunately, as described below, a suicide screening program designed specifically for the elderly is in development.

** NEW - 2010 data are now available! **

Elderly Males, ages 75+ for 2003-2010:

  • Age Group by Year of Death
  • Race and Ethnicity
  • Place of Injury by Year
  • Place of Death by Year
  • Method of Death by Year
  • Method of Death by Level of Education
  • Method of Death by Race
  • Marital Status
  • Military Status
  • Industry Classification by Year of Death
  • Month and Day of Death

Notes & Remarks regarding the Elderly Males 75+ data

If you are aware of other data sources about suicides in Idaho, especially data at the county level, please let us know using the Comments link.