title: No correlation between rates of suicidal ideation and completed suicides in Europe: analysis of 49,008 participants (55+ years) based on the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE).
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Little is known about country-specific variations in suicidal ideation (SID) by sex and how they correspond with completed suicide rate. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to assess variations in SID prevalence rates by sex and its correlation to completed suicide rates across European countries.
  
  
  METHODS
  SHARE is a cross-national European survey of individuals over the age of 50 and their spouse of any age. The present study relied on wave 4 conducted in 2010-2012 including 49,008 participants aged 55 to 104years from 16 countries. SID was evaluated using a single item from the Euro-D. Data on completed suicide rates were taken from the WHO mortality database.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the study population (n=49,008, 44.3% men, mean age 68.2±9.1years), a total of 4139 (8.5%, 95% CI 8.2-8.7) reported suicidal ideation within the last month. The women:men ratio in SID prevalence ranged from 1.30 in Estonia to 2.25 in Spain and Portugal. Regarding country-specific variation, the SID prevalence patterns of both men and women did not correspond to the completed suicide rates for males and females aged 55+ reported by the WHO (2013). Correlations were rather moderate in men (r=0.45) and especially weak in women (r=0.16).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study showed remarkable differences in SID prevalence by sex. The most exciting finding was that SID rates did not correspond with completed suicide rates in each country under investigation. However, the strength of these patterns substantially differs across countries. This unexpected finding need to be further evaluated.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Epidemiology II, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Centre for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lukaschek
authors.affiliation: University of Bamberg, Bamberg, Germany.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Engelhardt
authors.affiliation: Institute of Epidemiology II, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Centre for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Baumert
authors.affiliation: Institute of Epidemiology II, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Centre for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany; Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, München, Germany. Electronic address: ladwig@helmholtz-muenchen.de.
authors.forename: K-H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Ladwig
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001293:Attitude to Death; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012179:Retirement; D016728:Self-Injurious Behavior / Q000453:epidemiology; D012737:Sex Factors; D059020:Suicidal Ideation; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Aging; Cross-national survey; Epidemiology; Suicidal ideation; Suicide