Detection of suicide among the elderly in a long term care facility

Figures & data

Table 1 Participant socio-demographic and clinical characteristics

	Value (n=70)
Socio-demographic characteristics
Age: mean ± SD (minimum–maximum)	77.01±7.10 (63–94)
Gender: n (%) female	68 (61.3)
Years of education: mean ± SD (minimum–maximum)	3.37±3.15 (0–12)
Marital status: n (%) living with spouse	5 (7)
Clinical characteristics
MDD: n (%)	17 (24.3)
Suicide ideation by MINI: n (%)	8 (11.4)
Suicide by CSDD: n (%)	11 (15.7)
Suicide score: mean ± SD (minimum–maximum)	1.59±3.34 (0–19)
Suicide risk: n (%)
None	46 (65.7)
Minimal	16 (22.9)
Moderate	7 (10)
Severe	1 (1.4)
MMSE: mean ± SD (minimum–maximum)	23.97±4.64 (12–30)
Cognitively impaired: n (%)	26 (37.1)
GDS: mean ± SD	8.51±2.81
CSI: mean ± SD	11.82±12.03

Abbreviations: CSDD, Cornell Scale of Depression in Dementia; CSI, core symptom index; GDS, geriatric depression scale; MDD, major depressive disorder; MINI, Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview; MMSE, Mini-Mental Status Examination; SD, standard deviation.

Table 2 Predictors of the severity of suicidal thoughts (total suicide score)

Parameter	B	Standard error	t-statistics	P-value	95% confidence interval		Partial Eta squared
					Lower bound	Upper bound
Intercept	1.487	1.453	1.024	0.310	−1.414	4.388	0.016
GDS	0.076	0.122	0.626	0.534	−0.167	0.319	0.006
CSI	−0.045	0.035	−1.297	0.199	−0.114	0.024	0.025
Item 2 of the CSI	2.099	0.359	5.849	0.000	1.382	2.815	0.345
Current MDD	−1.295	0.855	−1.514	0.135	−3.004	0.413	0.034

Abbreviations: B, unstandardized coefficient; CSI, core symptom index; GDS, geriatric depression scale; MDD, major depressive disorder.

Table 3 Operating characteristics of the CSI regarding each suicidality item in MINI

	Area under the curve (SE)	Sensitivity	Specificity	PPV	NPV
MINI suicide item 1
>0	0.770 (0.061)	57.89a	94.12	78.6	85.7
>1		36.84	96.08	77.8	80.3
>2		26.32	100.00	100.0	78.5
MINI suicide item 2
>1	0.98 (0.016)	100.00	93.85	55.6	100.0
>2		60.00	96.92	60.0	96.9
>3		60.00	98.46	75.0	97.0
MINI suicide item 3
>0	0.97 (0.016)	100.00	90.32	57.1	100.0
>1		75.00	95.16	66.7	96.7
>2		50.00	98.39	80.0	93.8
>3		50.00	100.00	100.0	93.9

Note:

a A number in bold indicates the suggested cut-off score, and its corresponding sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV.

Abbreviations: MINI, the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview; NPV, negative predictive value; PPV, positive predictive value; SE, standard error; CSI, core symptom index.