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© 1995 Oxford University Press

research-article

Factors associated with the Wish to Die in Elderly People

A. F. JORM, A. S. HENDERSON, R. SCOTT, A. E. KORTEN, H. CHRISTENSEN and A. J. MACKINNON

NHMRC Social Psychiatry Research Unit, The Australian National University Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
The Mental Health Research Institute of Victoria Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia

This study aimed to determine the prevalence of the wish to die in elderly people and investigate the factors associated with it, in particular, whether factors other than depression contribute to the wish to die. Data were obtained from an Australian epidemiological survey of people aged 70 or more. Survey participants were asked whether, in the last two weeks, they had felt that they wanted to die and, if so, if they had had such thoughts repeatedly. Three classes of possible risk factors were investigated: sociodemographic factors (age, sex, marital status), mental health (depression, cognitive impairment), and physical health (poor self-rated health, disability, pain, sensory impairment, and living in a nursing home or hostel).

Only 21 of 923 elderly persons reported repeatedly having had a wish to die during the previous two weeks. Although the wish to die was associated with depression, there were several other factors also associated with it independently of depression: not being married, poor self-rated health, disability, pain, hearing impairment, visual impairment, living in a nursing home or hostel. A small minority expressed the wish to die but had a normal mood state.

It was concluded that the wish to die is associated with several factors in addition to depression and may be present in individuals with few depressive symptoms. There is a need to investigate whether factors associated with the wish to die are treatable and whether this can restore the desire to live.

Revision received December 3, 1994.
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