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Published on: February 22, 2018
Correlates of suicidal ideation among an elderly depressed sample
T R Lynch1, C S Johnson, T Mendelson
1Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA. lynch011@mc.duke.edu
Background:
Suicidal ideation has been shown to be strongly associated with suicide completion and elders take their own lives more than any other age group.
Methods:
The present study examined clinical and phenomenological correlates of suicidal ideation among an elderly sample (n = 167) derived from subjects enrolled in the Duke Clinical Research Center for the Study of Depression in Late Life.
Results:
Bivariate results indicated that clinical variables associated with psychomotor retardation, a history of dysthymia, a previous psychiatric in-patient stay, and being a 'younger' elder were related to greater suicidal ideation. Multivariate analyses indicated that feeling guilty, sinful, or worthless was associated with over six times greater odds of having suicidal thoughts.
Limitations:
Findings are based on correlational analyses, and thus, the direction of causality cannot be inferred.
Conclusions:
This study provides evidence for clinicians of some of the 'red flags' associated with the presence of suicidal ideation among depressed older adults.
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