Ajit Shah
University of Central Lancashire, Preston, United Kingdom
Internet and Suicide. Hauppauge, New York: Nova Science Publishers, 2009, 452 pages.

Suicide rates traditionally increased with ageing and are among the highest in the elderly. The internet can be an invaluable source of information whilst conducting research on elderly suicides: (i) the use of literature search through traditional data-bases and of the “grey literature” (for example, reports produced by influential organisations) in the generation of research hypotheses, planning and design of research studies; (ii) comparison of cross-national variations in elderly suicide rates; (iii) cross-national and national studies examining trends over time for elderly suicide rates; (iv) cross-national and national studies examining age-associated trends in suicide rates; (v) cross-national studies and longitudinal studies over time within individual countries with an ecological design to examine potential risk and protective factors; and (vi) publishing the findings from research studies. The effective use of the internet in these different research areas is described using recent examples.