Background: Suicide rates generally increase with age. Internet websites and chat rooms have been reported both to promote suicides and to have a positive beneficial effect on suicidal individuals. The role of the internet in elderly suicides has not been studied.
Methods: The relationship between elderly suicide rates and the prevalence of internet users was examined in a cross-national study using data from the World Health Organization and the United Nations website.
Results: The prevalence of internet users was significantly and positively correlated with suicide rates in both genders in the age bands 65—74 years and 75+ years. On multiple regression analysis the prevalence of internet users was independently associated with suicide rates in both genders in both age bands.
Conclusion: Caution should be exercised in the attribution of a causal relationship and the direction of this relationship because of the cross-sectional and ecological study design whereby the findings are subject to ecological fallacy. However, the findings identify and support a need for further research.
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