Factors Affecting Suicidal Ideation of the Low-income Elderly Living Alone

Abstract

Purpose:The purpose of this research is to identify factors affecting suicidal ideation of the low-income elderly. Methods:The study subjects were lowest-income(basic living allowance) and lower-income elders who were registered for home visiting services at five District Health Centers in Seoul. Interview data were collected from 280 elders and analyzed. Using SPSS/WIN 21, x 2 -test and t-test were conducted to analyze the relationship between the subjects' characteristics and their suicidal ideation, and logistic regression was done to identify factors affecting suicidal ideation. Results: Of the subjects, 48.6% had suicidal ideation for the last one year. Self-evaluated psychological status, quality of sleep, depression, and loneliness were affecting factors to the subjects' suicidal ideation. Conclusion: Psychological and social factors are strongly related to the suicidal ideation of the elderly who are living alone in metropolitan areas. Therefore, home visiting services should supply physical, psychological and social cares continuously to the low-income elderly, especially those who live alone in metropolitan areas.

Suicidal Ideation among Older People by Different Living Arrangement: The Mediating Effect of Pleasurable Activities

“…In addition, the low SES and increased levels of depression were related to the increased probability of suicidal ideation across both groups. These results are consistent with the characteristics of the older people who lived alone, as specified generally by previous studies [4,5,7,[16][17][18]21]. As indicated by the stress and coping model, depression acts as an aggravating factor on the suicidal ideation among older people, and a given living arrangement acts as a moderator.…”

“…Low SES played an important role in the suicidal ideation among the older people in both groups, those who lived alone and those who lived with others as described in the previous studies [17,18]. According to a prior study [7], financial difficulty was significantly related to suicidal ideation among those with low SES, and, in particular, males with low SES were at higher risk of suicidal ideation, than females, among older people.…”

“…Sex, education level, and socioeconomic status were selected as covariates in this study depending on review of previous studies [4,5,7,[16][17][18]21]. Sex was dichotomized as male (coded as number 1) and female (coded as number 0), education level classified into no school attended (coded as number 1), and at least primary school attended (coded as number 0).…”

“…Older people who live alone tend to have a relative lack experience with pleasurable activities, such as leisure pastimes or social participation, relative to older people who live with others [15]. Given the strong relationship between living alone depression, as well as the fact that depression has been shown to be related to suicidal ideations especially in older people who live alone [16][17][18], it is imperative to determine which social factors can reduce depression and suicidal ideation among older people who live alone.…”

“…This model emphasizes that the interaction of perceived stress and available coping resources determines the quality of the stress adaptation outcome. Selecting relevant variables and proposing the associations were based on the model, that was; depression was conceived of as an influencing factor; suicidal ideation as an outcome of the stress; pleasurable activities as a mediator of the association between depression and suicidal ideations; living arrangement as a moderator; and demographic factors as covariates, depending on review of previous studies (Figure 1) [4,5,7,[16][17][18]21].…”