Correlates of suicidal ideation among an elderly depressed sample

Background: Suicidal ideation has been shown to be strongly associated with suicide completion and elders take their own lives more than any other age group. Methods: The present study examined clinical and phenomenological c orrelates of suicidal ideation among an elderly sample (n = 167) derived fr om subjects enrolled in the Duke Clinical Research Center for the Study of Depression in Late Life. Results: Bivariate results indicated that clinical variables associated with psychomotor retardation, a history of dysthymia, a previous psychiatric in-patient stay, and being a 'younger' elder were r elated to greater suicidal ideation. Multivariate analyses indicated that f eeling guilty, sinful, or worthless was associated with over six times grea ter odds of having suicidal thoughts. Limitations: Findings are based on co rrelational analyses, and thus, the direction of causality cannot be inferr ed. Conclusions: This study provides evidence for clinicians of some of the 'red flags' associated with the presence of suicidal ideation among depres sed older adults. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science BN. All rights reserved.