Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-18T06:20:11.993Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Prevalence and risk factors for attempted suicide in the elderly: a cross-sectional study in Shanghai, China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 December 2016

Wei Zhang ,
Hansheng Ding ,
Peng Su ,
Qin Xu ,
Lixia Du ,
Chunyan Xie ,
Rong Chen ,
Yitong Yang ,
Chunlin Jin  and
Guangfeng Duan
...Show all authors
Wei Zhang
Affiliation:
Changhai Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China
Hansheng Ding
Affiliation:
Shanghai Medical Science and Technology Institute, Shanghai, China Shanghai Health Development and Research Center, Shanghai, China
Peng Su
Affiliation:
Department of Hospital Affairs, Guangzhou Military General Hospital, Guangzhou, China
Qin Xu
Affiliation:
Division of Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases and Injury, Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shanghai, China
Lixia Du
Affiliation:
Shanghai Medical Science and Technology Institute, Shanghai, China
Chunyan Xie
Affiliation:
Shanghai Medical Science and Technology Institute, Shanghai, China
Rong Chen
Affiliation:
Shanghai Population and Development Research Center, Shanghai, China
Yitong Yang
Affiliation:
School of Statistics and Management, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Shanghai, China
Chunlin Jin
Affiliation:
Shanghai Medical Science and Technology Institute, Shanghai, China Shanghai Health Development and Research Center, Shanghai, China
Guangfeng Duan
Affiliation:
Department of Health Services Management, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China
Yang Li
Affiliation:
Department of Health Services Management, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China
Lingling Gong
Affiliation:
Community Health Service Center, Jiangnin Street, Jing'an District, Shanghai, China
Wenhua Tian*
Affiliation:
School of Social Development and Public Policy, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Wenhua Tian, School of Social Development and Public Policy, Fudan University, Handan Road 220, Shanghai 200433, China. Phone: +86-21-8187-1428; Fax: +86-21-8187-1428. Email: wh_tian@aliyun.com.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background:

Previous studies have thoroughly investigated the prevalence and risk factors for completed suicide. In marked contrast is the lack of a better understanding of attempted suicide in the elderly. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of attempted suicide in the elderly and examine the associated factors.

Methods:

Using a multi-stage cluster sampling approach, a cross-sectional survey of 8,399 elderly house-dwelling residents was conducted in Shanghai, China.

Results:

The two-week prevalence of attempted suicide in the elderly was 0.75%. In the bivariate analysis, having no caregivers, depressive, anxiety, sad, fear, obsessive-compulsive and anger symptom, and lower scores on the Barthel Index of Activities of Daily Living and the Lawton Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale were significantly associated with an increased risk of attempted suicide in the elderly. In the multivariate analysis, sad and fear symptoms were significantly and independently associated with a higher risk of attempted suicide in the elderly.

Conclusion:

The two-week prevalence of attempted suicide in the elderly is relatively high when compared with the annualized or lifetime prevalence reported in China and foreign settings. Elderly individuals with certain mental symptoms should be targeted for suicide prevention and provided with timely mental health support.

Keywords

elderlyattempted suicideprevalencerisk factorsChinese
Type
Research Article
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 29 , Issue 5 , May 2017 , pp. 709 - 715
Copyright
Copyright © International Psychogeriatric Association 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

* These authors contributed equally to this paper.

References

Ballard, E. D. et al. (2014). Increased fear-potentiated startle in major depressive disorder patients with lifetime history of suicide attempt. Journal of Affective Disorders, 162, 34–38.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chen, W. J. et al. (2009). The suitability of the BSRS-5 for assessing elderly who have attempted suicide and need to be referred for professional mental health consultation in a metropolitan city, Taiwan. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 24, 1151–1157.Google Scholar
Cheng, J. K. et al. (2010). Lifetime suicidal ideation and suicide attempts in Asian Americans. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 1, 18–30.Google Scholar
Ciulla, L. et al. (2014). Suicide risk in the elderly: data from Brazilian public health care program. Journal of Affective Disorders, 152, 513–516.Google Scholar
De Leo, D. et al. (2001). Attempted and completed suicide in older subjects: results from the WHO/EURO multicentre study of suicidal behaviour. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 16, 300–310.Google Scholar
Fanning, J. R. and Pietrzak, R. H. (2013). Suicidality among older male veterans in the United States: results from the national health and resilience in veterans study. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 47, 1766–1775.Google Scholar
Hawton, K. and Harriss, L. (2006). Deliberate self-harm in people aged 60 years and over: characteristics and outcome of a 20-year cohort. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 21, 572–581.Google Scholar
Jeon, H. J. et al. (2010). Lifetime prevalence and correlates of suicidal ideation, plan, and single and multiple attempts in a Korean nationwide study. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 198, 643–646.Google Scholar
Kaplan, M. S., McFarland, B. H., Huguet, N. and Newsom, J. T. (2007). Physical illness, functional limitations, and suicide risk: a population-based study. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 77, 56–60.Google Scholar
Kovacs, M. and Garrison, B. (1985). Hopelessness and eventual suicide: a 10-year prospective study of patients hospitalized with suicidal ideation. American Journal of Psychiatry, 1, 559–563.Google Scholar
Lawton, M. P. and Brody, E. M. (1969). Assessment of older people: self-maintaining and instrumental activities of daily living. Gerontologist, 9, 179–186.Google Scholar
Lee, S. et al. (2007). Lifetime prevalence of suicide ideation, plan, and attempt in metropolitan China. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 116, 429–437.Google Scholar
Ma, W. J. et al. (2010). Features on suicide attempts and its influencing factors among residents in Guangdong province [in Chinese]. Zhonghua Liu Xing Bing xue za zhi= Zhonghua Liuxingbingxue Zazhi, 31, 413–416.Google Scholar
Ma, X. et al. (2009). Lifetime prevalence of suicidal ideation, suicide plans and attempts in rural and urban regions of Beijing, China. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 43, 158–166.Google Scholar
Mahoney, F. I. (1965). Functional evaluation: the Barthel index. Maryland State Medical Journal, 14, 61–65.Google ScholarPubMed
Maniam, T. et al. (2014). Risk factors for suicidal ideation, plans and attempts in Malaysia - results of an epidemiological survey. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 55, S121–125.Google Scholar
Miranda, R., Scott, M., Hicks, R., Wilcox, H. C., Munfakh, J. L. H. and Shaffer, D. (2008). Suicide attempt characteristics, diagnoses, and future attempts: comparing multiple attempters to single attempters and ideators. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 47, 32–40.Google Scholar
Park, J. Y. et al. (2013). Suicidal behaviors in elderly Koreans: one-month-point prevalence and factors related to suicidality. Journal of Affective Disorders, 150, 77–83.Google Scholar
Pompili, M. et al. (2012). Car accidents as a method of suicide: a comprehensive overview. Forensic Science International, 223, 1–9.Google Scholar
Ritchie, K. et al. (2004). Prevalence of DSM-IV psychiatric disorder in the French elderly population. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 184, 147–152.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shah, A. (2009). Attempted suicide in the elderly in England: age-associated rates, time trends and methods. International Psychogeriatrics, 21, 889–895.Google Scholar
Shah, A. and De, T. (1998). Suicide and the elderly. International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice, 2, 3–17.Google Scholar
Shanghai Research Center on Aging (2016). Statistical monitoring information on the aged population and industry in Shanghai in 2015. Available at: http://www.shrca.org.cn/5764.html.Google Scholar
Simon, M., Chang, E. S., Zeng, P. and Dong, X. (2013). Prevalence of suicidal ideation, attempts, and completed suicide rate in Chinese aging populations: a systematic review. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 57, 250–256.Google Scholar
Szanto, K., Gildengers, A., Mulsant, B. H., Brown, G., Alexopoulos, G. S. and Reynolds, C. F. 3rd (2002). Identification of suicidal ideation and prevention of suicidal behaviour in the elderly. Drugs and Aging, 19, 11–24.Google Scholar
Tsoh, J. et al. (2005). Attempted suicide in elderly Chinese persons: a multi-group, controlled study. The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 13, 562–571.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weiyuan, C. (2009). Women and suicide in rural China. Bulletin of The World Health Organization, 87, 888–889.Google Scholar
Welch, S. S. (2001). A review of the literature on the epidemiology of parasuicide in the general population. Psychiatric Services, 52, 368–375.Google Scholar
Wiktorsson, S., Runeson, B., Skoog, I., Ostling, S. and Waern, M. (2010). Attempted suicide in the elderly: characteristics of suicide attempters 70 years and older and a general population comparison group. The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 18, 57–67.Google Scholar
Zhang, W. et al. (2016). Does disability predict attempted suicide in the elderly? A community-based study of elderly residents in Shanghai, China. Aging & Mental Health, 20, 81–87.Google Scholar