title: Factors associated with suicidal ideation in an elderly urban Japanese population: a community-based, cross-sectional study.
abstract: The objective of the present study was to evaluate the association between suicidal ideation and potentially related factors in an elderly urban Japanese population. This was a community-based, cross-sectional study. Urban community residents aged 70 years or more were interviewed regarding suicidal ideation and sociodemographic and health-related variables. Subjects with depressive symptoms underwent further evaluation by psychiatrists using criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition. Associations were evaluated using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses. Of the 1145 eligible participants, 52 (4.5%) reported thoughts of suicide. Of 143 subjects with depressive symptoms (Geriatric Depression Scale, 14+), 22 (15.4%) reported suicidal ideation over a 2-week period. After controlling for depressive symptoms, lack of social support and impaired instrumental activities of daily living were significantly associated with thoughts of suicide. After controlling for the potentially associated factors detected in the univariate analysis, depressive symptoms were strongly associated with thoughts of suicide. In the elderly with depressive symptoms, mental disorders, including depressive and alcohol-related disorders, were significantly associated with suicidal ideation over a 2-week period. In the urban community setting, screening for lack of social support, impaired instrumental activities of daily living, and depressive symptoms, followed by diagnostic evaluation for mental disorders, particularly for depressive syndromes and alcohol-related disorders, may provide a practical and effective means of identifying elders at high risk of suicide.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan. awata@psy.med.tohoku.ac.jp
authors.forename: Shuichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Awata
authors.forename: Toru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Seki
authors.forename: Yayoi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Koizumi
authors.forename: Soichiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hozawa
authors.forename: Kaori
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Omori
authors.forename: Shinichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kuriyama
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Arai
authors.forename: Ryoichi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nagatomi
authors.forename: Hiroo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Matsuoka
authors.forename: Ichiro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tsuji
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged / Q000523:psychology*; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D016017:Odds Ratio; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012737:Sex Factors; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014505:Urban Population