Suicide among older adults in Porto Alegre, Brazil, during the COVID-19 pandemic

a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Introduction: Due to the new coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, most Brazilians remained restricted to their homes for long periods, causing worsening of psychological issues and, consequently, impacting suicide rates, especially among older adults, who constitute a risk group for   the disease. Therefore, it is worth observing not only illnesses directly caused by the virus, but also deaths resulting from worse mental health. In this context, it is essential to analyze the possible implications of the pandemic for the act of suicide. Objective: Our main objective is to verify suicide rates among older adults in the city of Porto Alegre, Brazil, during the COVID-19 pandemic and, as a secondary objective, to clarify some aspects about this extreme act. Methods: This is an ecological, cross-sectional study carried out by reviewing data available on the Department of Informatics of the Brazilian Unified Health System and on the “Mortalidade em Porto Alegre” website. The study scope corresponds to all older people who self-harmed and died in the city of Porto Alegre, from March 2020 to May 2023, a period that corresponds to the coronavirus pandemic. Results: We found that, in the study period, there were 407 deaths by suicide, of which 21.3% correspond to the older adult population, 51.5% of them aged between 60 and 69 years, 34.4% between 70 and 79 years, 13.7% aged 80 years or over, and 1.1% of unknown age. As for ethnicities, 87.4% were Caucasian, with 4.6% Black, 1.1% mixed-race, 1.1% Asian, and 5.7% of unknown ethnicity. In terms of suicide by region of the capital, the Centro region predominated, with 27,6% of deaths recorded. Furthermore, 79.3% older adult men died by suicide. To establish a chronological comparison, we collected data from 2017 to 2019 and verified that the age distribution regarding suicides among older adults was predominantly concentrated in the age group between 60-69 years, and, in total, there were 78 suicides in Porto Alegre during the period in question. Conclusions: We observed that the older adult population accounts for an important portion of suicides in Porto Alegre and that general rates increased in the capital during the COVID-19 pandemic period. Due to the countless losses and isolation to which this population was subjected, we can assume that there have been psychological impacts. Therefore, Primary Health Care professionals must be trained to always address mental health issues, especially with regard to the older adult population, preventing this type of death so that we can reverse this sad scenario.