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BACKGROUND Suicide is a leading cause of preventable death worldwide, with its peak of maximum incidence in later life. Depression often puts an individual at higher risk for suicidal behaviour. In turn, depression deserves particular interest in old age due to its high prevalence and dramatic impact on health and wellbeing. AIM To gather integrated evidence on the potential risk factors for suicide behaviour development in depressive older adults, and to examine the effects of depression treatment to tackle suicide behaviour in this population. METHODS A systematic review of empirical studies, published from 2000 onwards, was conducted. Suicidal behaviour was addressed considering its varying forms (i.e., wish to die, ideation, attempt, and completed suicide). RESULTS Thirty-five papers were selected for review, comprising both clinical and epidemiological studies. Most of studies focused on suicidal ideation (60%). The studies consistently pointed out that the risk was related to depressive episode severity, psychiatric comorbidity (anxiety or substance use disorders), poorer health status, and loss of functionality. Reduced social support and loneliness were also associated with suicide behaviour in depressive older adults. Finally, the intervention studies showed that suicidal behaviour was a robust predictor of depression treatment response. Reductions in suicidal ideation were moderated by reductions in risk factors for suicide symptoms. CONCLUSION To sum up, common and age-specific risk factors seem to be involved in suicide development in depressive older adults. A major effort should be made to tackle this serious public health concern so as to promote older people to age healthily and well.

Introducción. El suicidio constituye uno de los problemas de salud pública más importantes a nivel mundial. Los estudios no dejan clara la tendencia de mortalidad por suicidio en la pandemia por COVID-19. España podría registrar tasas crecientes de mortalidad por suicidio, dadas las restricciones prolongadas, la recurrencia de olas del virus y el elevado impacto en salud mental. Este estudio breve pretende proporcionar evidencia de las tendencias de mortalidad en el primer año de pandemia COVID-19 en España. Materiales y método. Se estimaron tasas anuales de mortalidad, usando modelos de efectos aleatorios a partir del índice nacional de mortalidad, para los años 2019 y 2020. Se usaron regresiones poissonianas para estudiar la relación de la mortalidad mensual por suicidio y factores temporales asociados a la pandemia. Resultados. 3.761 personas murieron por suicidio en España en 2019 y 3.941 personas murieron en 2020. La tasa de mortalidad en 2019 fue de 8,3 (IC95 = [7,6, 9,0]) por cada 100.000 habitantes, y de 8,9 (IC95 = [8,3, 9,6]) en 2020. No se encontraron diferencias significativas entre ambas tasas (p = 0,18). La regresión poissoniana reveló una relación significativa entre la tendencia de mortalidad por suicidio y el inicio de la pandemia COVID-19, OR = 1,07 (IC95 = [1,02, 1,12]). Conclusiones. No se observó tasa de mortalidad por suicidio significativamente mayor en 2020 pero sí una tendencia creciente de casos desde mayo del 2020 en adelante. Nuestros resultados pretenden instar a tomar medidas para atajar la conducta suicida en la época post-pandemia.

BACKGROUND Some studies suggest that inflammatory signaling dysregulation may contribute to eating disorder (ED) pathophysiology. However, little is known about the influence of inflammatory response on altered processes seen among patients with ED, such as emotional processing and reactivity. OBJECTIVES The objectives were: (a) to investigate the systemic inflammatory response in ED women; and (b) to analyze the role of inflammatory markers in emotional reactivity. METHOD Concentrations of several intercellular and intracellular inflammatory mediators (cytokines, prostaglandin by-products and enzymes, TBARS, and MAPK proteins) were quantified in plasma and PBMCs from 68 women with an ED (m = 22.01 years, SD = 9.15) and 35 healthy controls (m = 18.54 years, SD = 4.21). Moreover, emotional reactivity to affective pictures (those without either food or thinness content) was studied using the adult (>18 years old) sample (n = 41). RESULTS Between-group differences were revealed for most markers (TNF-α, PGE2 , COX2, and ratio of activated MAPK proteins), pointing to increased inflammatory response in patients (p