Relationship between suicide, homicide and accidental deaths among the aged in Finland in 1951-1979.

Time trends for suicide, homicide and accident mortality among the Finnish population 65 years or over in 1951-1979 are presented. From 1951 to 1967 suicide, motor-vehicle accident mortality and overall accident mortality among elderly males tended to follow more or less similar patterns. In 1951-1979 male suicide rates correlated positively and significantly over time with male motor-vehicle accident mortality and with male total accident mortality. The results from this mortality analysis in the elderly population are compared with those obtained by Holinger et al. in the total population. There is also a brief discussion of the methodological problems of the study. The results suggest that self-destructive tendencies are not a central variable in female accident mortality among the aged population. On the other hand, it is possible that they play some role in motor-vehicle accident mortality in the aged male population. No suggestions about self-destructive tendencies in homicides among the aged could be made.