Biomedical subjects

Nestor D Kapusta

Publications and source records attributed to Nestor D Kapusta.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2007

Trends in suicide rates of the elderly in Austria, 1970-2004: an analysis of changes in terms of age groups, suicide methods and gender.

BACKGROUND: Suicides of the elderly (persons aged 65 and older) make up a large proportion of total suicides. Since suicide rates of the elderly are highest in western populations, addressing them as a risk group in prevention plans has been recommended. In order to assess possible approaches to prevention strategies, this study examines high-risk groups of the elderly. METHODS: We examined official statistics on suicides that occurred in Austria between 1970-2004 (18,101 Suicides of the elderly). We analyzed time trends and differences in suicide methods as well as in age groups and both genders of the elderly. RESULTS: Three major high-risk groups were identified: elderly male suicides by firearms; elderly female suicides by poisoning, which occur more often with increasing age; and suicides of both genders by jumping from heights. CONCLUSION: Besides conducting treatment of psychiatric disorders of the elderly, restricting the means to commit suicide may help to prevent it among the elderly. Such specific prevention strategies should be implemented in national suicide prevention plans for the high-risk groups identified in this study.

Age Factors↗

PubMed2006

Multiple substance use among young males.

Neurobiological studies hypothesize a common final pathway of addictive behavior in the mesolimbic dopaminergic system. Nicotine has been shown to sensitize the reward pathway, thereby causing increased drug-seeking behavior. Since there is evidence to suggest that nicotine, alcohol and other psychoactive substances act on the same final pathway and seem to augment their effects in animal subjects, drug intake behavior of humans would likely be reflected in increased substance use of nicotine-dependent persons. We used biological markers of substance use as well as questionnaires to assess the levels of psychoactive substance use among 18-year-old males in a naturalistic cross-sectional setting. We found that increasing levels of nicotine dependence were related to higher levels of alcohol abuse and dependence. Furthermore, higher levels of nicotine dependence were associated with elevated levels of recent cannabinoid use.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Suicide among Viennese minors, 1946-2002.

OBJECTIVES: The first documented conference on suicide among school pupils was held by the Viennese Psychoanalytical Society in 1910, yet since then research on youth suicide in Vienna and Austria has been sparse. We investigated cases of suicide among Viennese minors over a period of 57 years in terms of prevalence, gender differences, suicide methods and monthly distribution. METHODS: We studied registered suicides among Viennese youths aged 19 or younger occurring between 1946 and 2002 (n = 683). RESULTS: The total suicide rate and the rates for male and female suicides among Viennese minors decreased over the period studied. The mean suicide rate was 6.2 per 100,000 (statistics on suicides per 100,000 were available only for the period 1953-2002), with a male-female ratio of 2.1:1. The predominant suicide method was domestic gas until its detoxification in Vienna. From 1976 jumping from a height became the most common suicide method of Viennese minors; it was also the predominant method among females, whereas hanging was the predominant method among males. Since 1996 the percentage of firearm suicides among males has doubled, and jumping suicides among females have tripled. A greater number of suicides among minors took place during the months of January, June, October and December. CONCLUSIONS: Suicide rates of Viennese minors are on the decline, corresponding to a reported decrease in the general suicide rate in Austria. In view of an observed recent increase in firearm suicides among males and jumping suicides among females aged 19 and younger, further monitoring as well as legal and environmental prevention measures are needed.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Suicide by shooting is correlated to rate of gun licenses in Austrian counties.

OBJECTIVES: Shooting as method of suicide has increased considerably in Austria over recent decades and represented 23.5% of all suicides among men during the period 1990-2000. It is thought that the availability of guns could lead to their use in acts of suicide, and therefore we investigated the numbers of gun licenses (which constitutes ownership of guns and permission to carry a gun) in the nine Austrian counties and their correlation with suicides by shooting and other methods. METHODS: We studied registered suicides, including the method used, between 1990 and 2000 in Austria and the numbers of gun licenses held in the nine counties of Austria in the same period. RESULTS: We found a strong correlation between the average gun license rate for the period 1990-2000 and suicides by shooting (r = 0.967), and only very weak correlation, and for some of the years under investigation a negative correlation, with other methods of committing suicide (r = 0.117) and the suicide rate in general (r = 0.383). CONCLUSIONS: As shooting as a method of suicide has increased in Austria in recent decades, and is a highly lethal method, the finding that the shooting suicide rate is related to the extent of gun ownership deserves attention, especially as there is evidence that restriction of gun ownership is an important factor in suicide prevention.

Austria↗

PubMed2005

Epidemiology of substance use in a representative sample of 18-year-old males.

AIMS: To assess recent drug use through urine testing as well as the prevalence of tobacco and alcohol dependence among young males and to analyse the associations between tobacco dependence and cannabis use (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, THC), tobacco dependence, and alcohol dependence as well as between THC use and other illicit drug use. METHODS: Urine samples were collected, and nicotine and alcohol questionnaires were administered. Carbon monoxide was assessed in exhaled air. Data from young males from representative, selected districts of Lower Austria were recorded during the annual physical examination for mandatory military service. Out of all 18-year-old males in Austria 3.8% (n = 1902) were included in the study. Prevalence of recent illicit drug use, tobacco dependence (heavy smoking index, HSI), alcohol dependence (The 4-item cutting down, annoyance by criticism, guilty feeling, and eye-openers (CAGE) questionnaire), and associations between substance categories by means of logistic regression analyses were calculated. RESULTS: Alcohol abuse was found in 15.1% and alcohol dependence was found in 3.2%. According to the HSI 51.5% of males reported daily smoking, of whom 43.7% showed a mild level, and 7.8% a high level, of nicotine dependence. About 5.1% of the sample evidenced THC in urine. Opiates were identified in 2.7% of urine samples. Smokers showed a higher risk of THC use. THC users had a tendency to use cocaine and amphetamines more frequently than THC abstainers. CONCLUSION: Nicotine and alcohol dependence is common among young males. Biological assessment of illicit drug use seems to confirm previous questionnaire-based findings of associations between THC use and other illicit drugs. Urine testing seems to be an adequate method to analyse associations of THC use and other illicit drugs. In combination with questionnaires urine testing may be used for the assessment of associations of tobacco dependence and recent illicit drug use based on epidemiological surveys.

Adolescent↗