Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T22:02:20.131Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

No Correlation Between Rates of Suicidal Ideation and Completed Suicides in Europe: Analysis of 49,008 Participants (55+ Years) Based on the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2020

K. Lukaschek ,
H. Engelhardt ,
J. Baumert  and
K.-H. Ladwig
K. Lukaschek
Affiliation:
Institute of Epidemiology II, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Centre for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany
H. Engelhardt
Affiliation:
University of Bamberg, Bamberg, Germany
J. Baumert
Affiliation:
Institute of Epidemiology II, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Centre for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany
K.-H. Ladwig*
Affiliation:
Institute of Epidemiology II, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Centre for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, München, Germany
*
*Corresponding author at: Helmholtz Zentrum München, Institute of Epidemiology II, Ingolstädter Landstr. 1, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany. Tel.: +49 89 3187 3623; fax: +49 89 3187 3667. E-mail address: [email protected] (K.-H. Ladwig).
Get access

Abstract

Background:

Little is known about country-specific variations in suicidal ideation (SID) by sex and how they correspond with completed suicide rate. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to assess variations in SID prevalence rates by sex and its correlation to completed suicide rates across European countries.

Method:

SHARE is a cross-national European survey of individuals over the age of 50 and their spouse of any age. The present study relied on wave 4 conducted in 2010–2012 including 49,008 participants aged 55 to 104 years from 16 countries. SID was evaluated using a single item from the Euro-D. Data on completed suicide rates were taken from the WHO mortality database.

Results:

Of the study population (n = 49,008, 44.3% men, mean age 68.2 ± 9.1 years), a total of 4139 (8.5%, 95% CI 8.2–8.7) reported suicidal ideation within the last month. The women:men ratio in SID prevalence ranged from 1.30 in Estonia to 2.25 in Spain and Portugal. Regarding country-specific variation, the SID prevalence patterns of both men and women did not correspond to the completed suicide rates for males and females aged 55+ reported by the WHO (2013). Correlations were rather moderate in men (r = 0.45) and especially weak in women (r = 0.16).

Conclusion:

The study showed remarkable differences in SID prevalence by sex. The most exciting finding was that SID rates did not correspond with completed suicide rates in each country under investigation. However, the strength of these patterns substantially differs across countries. This unexpected finding need to be further evaluated.

Keywords

SuicideSuicidal ideationEpidemiologyAgingCross-national survey
Type
Original article
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 30 , Issue 7 , October 2015 , pp. 874 - 879
Copyright
European Psychiatric Association 2015

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

1

These authors contributed equally to this work.

References

Ajdacic-Gross, V, Weiss, MG, Ring, M, Hepp, U, Bopp, M, Gutzwiller, F, et al.Methods of suicide: international suicide patterns derived from the WHO mortality database. Bull World Health Organ 2008;86:726–732.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ayalon, L. The prevalence and predictors of passive death wishes in Europe: a 2-year follow-up of the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 2011;26:923–929.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Batterham, PJ, Calear, AL, Mackinnon, AJ, Christensen, H. The association between suicidal ideation and increased mortality from natural causes. J Affect Disord 2013;150:855–860.Google ScholarPubMed
Bebbington, PE, Minot, S, Cooper, C, Dennis, M, Meltzer, H, Jenkins, R, et al.Suicidal ideation, self-harm and attempted suicide: results from the British psychiatric morbidity survey 2000. Eur Psychiatry 2010;25:427–431.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bernal, M, Haro, JM, Bernert, S, Brugha, T, de Graaf, R, Bruffaerts, R, et al.Risk factors for suicidality in Europe: results from the ESEMED study. J Affect Disord 2007;101:27–34.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bertolote, JM, Fleischmann, A, De Leo, D, Bolhari, J, Botega, N, De Silva, D, et al.Suicide attempts, plans, and ideation in culturally diverse sites: the WHO SUPRE-MISS community survey. Psychol Med 2005;35:1457–1465.Google ScholarPubMed
Borsch-Supan, A, Brandt, M, Hunkler, C, Kneip, T, Korbmacher, J, Malter, F, et al.Data resource profile: the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). Int J Epidemiol 2013;42:992–1001.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Canetto, SS, Sakinofsky, I. The gender paradox in suicide. Suicide Life Threat Behav 1998;28:1–23.Google ScholarPubMed
Encrenaz, G, Kovess-Masfety, V, Gilbert, F, Galera, C, Lagarde, E, Mishara, B, et al.Lifetime risk of suicidal behaviors and communication to a health professional about suicidal ideation. Results from a large survey of the French adult population. Crisis 2012;33:127–136.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Forkmann, T, Brahler, E, Gauggel, S, Glaesmer, H. Prevalence of suicidal ideation and related risk factors in the German general population. J Nerv Ment Dis 2012;200:401–405.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hoven, CW, Mandell, DJ, Bertolote, JM. Prevention of mental ill-health and suicide: public health perspectives. Eur Psychiatry 2010;25:252–256.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Husky, MM, Guignard, R, Beck, F, Michel, G. Risk behaviors, suicidal ideation and suicide attempts in a nationally representative French sample. J Affect Disord 2013;151:1059–1065.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kuo, WH, Gallo, JJ, Tien, AY. Incidence of suicide ideation and attempts in adults: the 13-year follow-up of a community sample in Baltimore, Maryland. Psychol Med 2001;31:1181–1191.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ladwig, KH, Klupsch, D, Meisinger, C, Baumert, J, Erazo, N, Schneider, A, et al.Gender differences in risk assessment of death wishes and suicidal ideation in the community: results from the KORA Augsburg F3 study with 3079 men and women, 35 to 84 years of age. J Nerv Ment Dis 2010;198:52–58.Google ScholarPubMed
Ladwig, KH, Klupsch, D, Ruf, E, Meisinger, C, Baumert, J, Erazo, N, et al.Sex- and age-related increase in prevalence rates of death wishes and suicidal ideation in the community: results from the KORA-F3 Augsburg Study with 3154 men and women, 35 to 84 years of age. Psychiatry Res 2008;161:248–252.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Levi, F, La Vecchia, C, Lucchini, F, Negri, E, Saxena, S, Maulik, PK, et al.Trends in mortality from suicide, 1965–99. Acta Psychiatr Scand 2003;108:341–349.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Linden, M, Barnow, S. 1997 IPA/Bayer Research Awards in Psychogeriatrics. The wish to die in very old persons near the end of life: a psychiatric problem? Results from the Berlin Aging Study. Int Psychogeriatr 1997;9:291–307.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lukaschek, K, Erazo, N, Baumert, J, Ladwig, KH. Suicide mortality in comparison to traffic accidents and homicides as causes of unnatural death. An analysis of 14,441 cases in Germany in the year 2010. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2012;9:924–931.Google ScholarPubMed
Malter, F, Borsch-Supan, ASHARE Wave 4: innovations & methodology. Munich: MEA, Max-Planck-Institute for Social Law and Social Policy; 2013.Google Scholar
Mann, JJ. A current perspective of suicide and attempted suicide. Ann Intern Med 2002;136:302–311.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moller-Leimkuhler, AM. The gender gap in suicide and premature death or: why are men so vulnerable?. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 2003;253:1–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Prince, MJ, Beekman, AT, Deeg, DJ, Fuhrer, R, Kivela, SL, Lawlor, BA, et al.Depression symptoms in late life assessed using the EURO-D scale. Effect of age, gender and marital status in 14 European centres. Br J Psychiatry 1999;174:339–345.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Prince, MJ, Reischies, F, Beekman, AT, Fuhrer, R, Jonker, C, Kivela, SL, et al.Development of the EURO-D scale – a European Union initiative to compare symptoms of depression in 14 European centres. Br J Psychiatry 1999;174:330–338.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rabe-Hesketh, S, Skrondal, AMultilevel and longitudinal modeling using Stata.: College Station. Texas: StataCorp LP.; 2008.Google Scholar
Rancans, E, Lapins, J, Salander Renberg, E, Jacobsson, LSelf-reported suicidal and help-seeking behaviours in the general population in Latvia. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 2003;38:18–26.Google ScholarPubMed
Saias, T, Beck, F, Bodard, J, Guignard, R, du Roscoat, ESocial participation, social environment and death ideations in later life. PLoS One 2012;7:e46723.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thomas, HV, Crawford, M, Meltzer, H, Lewis, GThinking life is not worth living. A population survey of Great Britain. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 2002;37:351–356.Google Scholar
Thompson, AH, Dewa, CS, Phare, SThe suicidal process: age of onset and severity of suicidal behaviour. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 2012;47:1263–1269.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Varnik, PSuicide in the world. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2012;9:760–771.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
von Elm, E, Altman, DG, Egger, M, Pocock, SJ, Gotzsche, PC, Vandenbroucke, JP, et al.The Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) statement: guidelines for reporting observational studies. Lancet 2007;370:1453–1457.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
WHO. 2013. WHO internet data base: http://www.who.int/healthinfo/mortality_data/en/ [last access: 11.08.2015].Google Scholar
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.