Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T11:02:27.407Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Severity of depression and suicidal ideations among elderly people in Singapore

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 July 2007

Lay Ling Tan  and
Hwee Bee Wong
Lay Ling Tan*
Affiliation:
Institute of Mental Health, Department of Geriatric Psychiatry, Singapore
Hwee Bee Wong
Affiliation:
Clinical Trial and Epidemiological Research Unit, Singapore
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Dr. Lay Ling Tan, Institute of Mental Health, Department of Geriatric Psychiatry, 10 Buangkok View, Singapore 539747. Phone: +65 63892000; Fax: +65 63851051. Email: [email protected].
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Introduction: Studies in the West have concluded that the severity of depression is the strongest predictor of the course of suicidal ideations among the elderly. However, Asian culture tends to be more reserved and this may impact on the reporting of suicidal ideations. This study aims to determine the prevalence of suicidal ideation among depressed elderly people in Singapore and attempts to investigate the relationship between severity of depression and suicidality.

Method: Eighty consecutive depressed patients were recruited and severity of depressive symptoms rated with Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI). Suicidality was assessed using the Beck's Hopelessness Scale (BHS) and Beck's Suicide Intent Scale (BSS). Suicidal ideation was defined as any thought of wanting to kill oneself over the past seven days and not just a passive wish to die.

Results: 53.8% verbalized thoughts of wanting to kill themselves. Males were three times more likely to report suicidal thoughts. Severity of depression did not significantly influence the presence of suicidal thinking. The association of depression severity and suicidal ideations is not strongly supported.

Conclusions: Elderly males were more likely to report suicidal ideations when depressed. Elderly patients who reported suicidal ideations were likely to be more severely depressed. However, in a depressed elderly person, the absence of suicidal ideations would not infer that the episode of depression was less severe.

Keywords

suicidalityassociationsuicide risk factors
Type
Research Article
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 20 , Issue 2 , April 2008 , pp. 338 - 346
Copyright
Copyright © International Psychogeriatric Association 2007

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.)

References

Alexopoulos, G. S. et al. 1999. Clinical determinants of suicidal ideation and behavior in geriatric depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 56, 1048–1053.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
American Psychiatric Association 1994. DSM-IV, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edn. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.Google Scholar
Blazer, D. G., Bahn, A. K. and Manton, K. G. 1986. Suicide in late life: review and commentary. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 34, 519–525.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bruce, M. L. et al. 2004. Reducing suicidal ideation and depressive symptoms in depressed older primary care patients. JAMA, 291, 1081–1091.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cattell, H. 2000. Suicide in the elderly. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment, 6, 102–108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Conwell, Y. et al. 2002. Risk factors for suicide in later life. Biological Psychiatry, 52, 193–204.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Duberstein, P. R. et al. 1994. Age differences in the personality characteristics of suicide completers: preliminary findings from a psychological autopsy study. Psychiatry, 57, 213–224.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Duberstein, P. R. et al. 1999. Age and suicidal ideation in older depressed inpatients. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 7, 289–296.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gallo, J. J. et al. 1994. Age differences in the symptoms of depression: a latent trait analysis. Journal of Gerontology, 48, 251–264.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kirby, M. et al. 1997. Hopelessness and suicidal ideation among the community dwelling elderly in Dublin. Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine, 14, 124–127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kua, E. H. et al. 2003. Recent trends in elderly suicide rates in a multi-ethnic Asian city. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 18, 533–536.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ross, R. K. et al. 1990. A prospective study of risk factors for traumatic death in the retirement community. Preventive Medicine, 19, 323–324.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Skoog, I. et al. 1996. Suicidal feelings in a population sample of nondemented 85-year-olds. American Journal of Psychiatry, 153, 1015–1020.Google Scholar
Yip, P. S. F. 1998. Suicides in Australia and Hong Kong: an East and West experience. Crisis, 19, 24–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yip, P. S. F. et al. 2003. A prevalence study of suicide ideation among older adults in Hong Kong SAR. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 18, 1056–1062.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yip, P. S. F. and Chi, I. 2002. Suicide behavior in Hong Kong elderly. In De Leo, Diego (ed.)., Suicide and Euthanasia in Older Adults: A Transcultural Journey. (pp. 97–115), Seattle, WA: Hogrehe & Juber.Google Scholar