Objective To determine the rates of psychiatric disorder and personality variables in a sample of older people who had committed suicide and to compare the rates in a subgroup of this sample with those in a control group of people who died from natural causes. Design Descriptive psychological autopsy study, including interviews with informants, of psychiatric and personality factors in 100 suicides in older people. Case‐control study using subgroup of 54 cases and matched control group. Setting Four counties and one large urban area in central England, UK. Subjects Individuals 60 years old and over at the time of death who had died between 1 January 1995 and 1 May 1998, and whose deaths had received a coroner's verdict of suicide (or an open or accidental verdict, where the circumstances of death indicated probable suicide). The control group was an age‐and sex‐matched sample of people dying through natural causes in the same time period. Main outcome measures ICD‐10 psychiatric disorder, personality disorder and trait accentuation. Main results Seventy‐seven per cent of the suicide sample had a psychiatric disorder at the time of death, most often depression (63%). Personality disorder or personality trait accentuation was present in 44%, with anankastic or anxious traits the most frequent. Depression, personality disorder, and personality trait accentuation emerged as predictors of suicide in the case‐control analysis. Conclusion Personality factors, as well as depression, are important risk factors for suicide in older people. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Background: assessment of the health of men aged 60 and over in English and Welsh prisons. Methods: 203 men were interviewed from 15 prisons, comprising one-®fth of all sentenced men in this age group in England and Wales. Assessment included semi-structured interviews covering chronic and acute health problems, and recording of major illnesses from the medical notes and prison reception health screen. Results: 85% of the elderly prisoners had one or more major illnesses reported in their medical records, and 83% reported at least one chronic illness on interview. The most common illnesses were psychiatric, cardiovascular, musculoskeletal and respiratory. Conclusion: the rates of illness in elderly prisoners are higher than those reported in other studies of younger prisoners and surveys of the general population of a similar age. The increasing number of elderly people in prison poses speci®c health challenges for prison health-care services.

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