Age-related differences in the influence of major mental disorders on suicidality: a Korean nationwide community sample.
BACKGROUND
We compared the influence of major mental disorders on suicidality according to age, adjusting for suicide-related correlates.


METHODS
This study was based on the Korean national epidemiological survey of mental disorders including community-dwelling adults between 18 and 74 years of age (n=6022). Subjects were classified into three age groups; young (18-39), middle-aged (40-59), and late adulthood (60-74). Face-to-face interviews were conducted using the Korean version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. According to age groups, the influence of major depressive disorder (MDD), anxiety disorder, and alcohol use disorder on risk for suicidality were investigated by multiple logistic regression models adjusting for sex, years of education, marital status, income, employment, presence of chronic medical illness, and lifetime history of suicide attempt.


RESULTS
After including MDD as a covariate, anxiety disorder remained a risk factor only in the middle-aged group (adjusted OR: 2.83, 95% CI: 1.54-5.22), and alcohol use disorder was a risk factor for suicidality only in the young group (adjusted OR: 2.81, 95% CI: 1.06-7.43). Conversely, MDD was the only mental disorder that significantly increased suicidality in all age groups.


CONCLUSIONS
This was a cross-sectional study and did not include subjects over 75 years of age.


CONCLUSIONS
This study showed that the contribution of psychiatric disorders to risk for suicidality varied according to age group. Therefore, strategies for suicide prevention should be specifically designed for different age groups.
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea; Department of Neuropsychiatry, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, South Korea.
Jee Eun
JE
Park
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea; Department of Neuropsychiatry, Seoul Metropolitan Boramae Medical Center, Seoul, South Korea.
Jun-Young
JY
Lee
Department of psychiatry, Depression Center, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
Hong Jin
HJ
Jeon
Department of Neuropsychiatry, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, South Korea.
Kyung Ho
KH
Han
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea; Department of Neuropsychiatry, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, South Korea.
Ji Hoon
JH
Sohn
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea; Department of psychiatry, Bucheon Geriatric Medical Center, Bucheon, South Korea.
Su Jeong
SJ
Sung
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea; Department of Neuropsychiatry, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, South Korea. Electronic address: mjcho@snu.ac.kr.
Maeng Je
MJ
Cho
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D013405:Suicide / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult
Age groups; Mental disorders; Prevalence; Risk factors; Suicide