Factors related to Chinese older adults’ suicidal thoughts and attempts

Abstract

Objectives: Guided by the biopsychosocial framework and empirical evidence, this study examined protective and risk factors of older adults’ suicidal thoughts and attempts during the previous month, 12 months, and 5 years.

Method: The data used in this study were extracted from the Sample Survey on Aged Population in Urban/Rural China conducted in 2006, which included 15,957 older adults from mainland China. Multiple penalized logistic regressions were used to conduct the analyses.

Results: During the previous month, 12 months, and 5 years, 5.1‰, 10.0‰, and 17.7‰ of older adults indicated that they thought about suicide, whereas 2.2‰, 3.5‰, and 6.3‰ reported suicidal attempts, respectively. Older adults’ age, financial strain, functional limitations, depression, children's filial piety, social network, loneliness, and urban residence were significantly related to suicidal thoughts during the different time periods. In addition, older adults’ religious affiliation, depression, loneliness, and urban residence were significantly related to suicidal attempts during the different time periods.

Conclusion: Older adults’ suicidal thoughts and attempts need to be assessed by mental health care professionals and primary care doctors. Programs addressing these important protective and risk factors may help reduce older adults’ suicidal thoughts and attempts.

Keywords:

• older adults
• mainland China
• suicidal thoughts
• suicidal attempts

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank The Chinese Research Center on Aging in Beijing for providing the dataset.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.