Factors associated with suicidal thoughts in a large community study of older adults

Abstract

Background: Thoughts about death and self-harm in old age have been commonly associated with the presence of depression, but other risk factors may also be important. Aims: To determine the independent association between suicidal ideation in later life and demographic, lifestyle, socioeconomic, psychiatric and medical factors. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted of a communityderived sample of 21 290 adults aged 60-101 years enrolled from Australian primary care practices. We considered that participants endorsing any of the four items of the Depressive Symptom Inventory - Suicidality Subscale were experiencing suicidal thoughts. We used standard procedures to collect demographic,..