The association between suicide ideation and sensory impairment among elderly Koreans

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to examine the relationship between sensory impairment and suicide ideation among elderly Koreans.

Methods: Data from the 2010–2012 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey V was used. Participants included 3636 older adults (≥65 years) who received hearing and vision tests; participants also completed assessments of covariates and suicide ideation.

Results: The risk of suicide ideation was 1.43–1.65 times higher among participants with visual impairment than in those without impairment. Moreover, the risk was 1.60–1.76 times higher among those with both auditory and visual impairments than the risk for those without any impairment.

Conclusion: This study found an association between sensory impairment and suicide ideation in elderly individuals. Therefore, it seems necessary that interventions that reduce or prevent sensory impaired elders’ suicide ideation are needed, which may be an indicator of mental health problems or poor quality of life.

Keywords:

• suicide ideation
• hearing impairment
• visual impairment
• epidemiology (mental health)