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 correlates of suicidal ideation among an elderly sample (n = 167) derived from 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 related to greater suicidal ideation. Multivariate analyses indicated that feeling guilty, sinful, or worthless was associated with over six times greater odds of having suicidal thoughts.

LIMITATIONS: Findings are based on correlational analyses, and thus, the direction of causality cannot be inferred.

CONCLUSIONS

This study provides evidence for clinicians of some of the 'red flags' associated with the presence of suicidal ideation among depressed older adults.