Death ideation and its correlates: Survey of an over-65-year-old population

The presence of dissatisfaction with life or thoughts of death or suicide h as been variously surveyed in adolescent samples and in the general populat ion, but there is a paucity of research on the elderly. The aim of this stu dy was to assess, in an elderly community-dwelling population: a) the preva lence of death and/or suicidal feelings and thoughts and any attempted suic ides; and b) factors associated with these experiences. A total of 611 over -65-year-old subjects were interviewed at home. Seventeen percent of the to tal (F:M = almost 2:1) responded affirmatively to at least one of the quest ions on suicidality. Elderly people reporting suicidal feelings presented m arkedly higher levels of physical and psychological distress, such as depre ssion, anxiety, and hostility. Results indirectly confirm that depressive s ymptomatology is not adequately treated. Greater attention is warranted in psychological evaluation of the elderly to take into account those risk fac tors that, if identified and managed, could reduce the frequency of suicida l thoughts and, probably, associated actions.