Psychotic (delusional) major depression in the elderly and suicidal behaviour

Background: It has been established that depressed patients manifest a higher risk of committing suicide. The role of delusional experiences accompanying depressive symptomatology as a risk factor for suicidal behaviour has been investigated but the results are inconsistent. Method: In the present study, 40 elderly depressed inpatients with psychotic features (DSM-IV criteria) were compared to 64 elderly depressed patients without such features in terms of suicide attempts. Results: The results of univariate and multivariate analyses were negative: Psychotic and nonpsychotic depressed patients did not differ with respect to attempted suicide. Conclusion: The results of the present study support the notion that psychotic features do not increase the risk for the elderly depressed patients to attempt suicide.