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Review
. 2020 Nov 6;73(suppl 3):e20200332.
doi: 10.1590/0034-7167-2020-0332. eCollection 2020.

Suicide in the elderly: approach to social determinants of health in the Dahlgren and Whitehead model

[Article in English, Portuguese]
Mariana Lustosa de Carvalho  1 , Ana Paula Cardoso Costa  1 , Claudete Ferreira de Souza Monteiro  1 , Maria do Livramento Fortes Figueiredo  1 , Fernanda Valéria Silva Dantas Avelino  1 , Silvana Santiago da Rocha  1
Affiliations
Free article
Review

Suicide in the elderly: approach to social determinants of health in the Dahlgren and Whitehead model

[Article in English, Portuguese]
Mariana Lustosa de Carvalho et al. Rev Bras Enferm. .
Free article

Abstract

Objective: Identify in literature the social determinants of health related to suicide in the elderly, according to the model proposed by Dahlgren and Whitehead.

Method: Integrative review of articles indexed in the databases BDENF, CINAHL, LILACS, and MEDLINE, with the following main descriptors: aged, suicide, social determinants of health, and risk factors. Primary studies were included which addressed social determinants of health and suicide in the elderly.

Results: From the 19 articles analyzed, three categories emerged: proximal social determinants of health (male gender, mental disorders, physical illnesses, white race, 70-74 years old); intermediate social determinants of health (substance abuse, use of alcohol or psychotropic drugs, marital status, marital, social, and family problems, violence, previous suicide attempt, history of admission to psychiatric service); and distal social determinants of health (schooling, economic issues, sanitation, stressful events).

Conclusion: Proximal determinants have more effects on suicide. Intermediate determinants are composed mainly of changeable factors. Distal determinants showed lesser associations.

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