Abstract
This study aimed at assessing gender-specific predictors associated with suicidal ideation among Korean older adults using a longitudinal study. Participants of this study were 926 older adults aged 65 years and above (583 women, 343 men) who completed both 2016 and 2018 surveys on Elderly Life Conditions in Chuncheon, Korea, and reported never having thought about suicide or attempted suicide at baseline. Multivariate logistic regression was used to investigate the predictors (at baseline) of suicidal ideation (at 2-year follow-up) separately for each gender group. The results showed that among women, predictors of suicidal ideation were fearlessness about death (personal factor), filial responsibility (family factor), and social activities (social factor). However, among men, only psychological inflexibility (personal factor) predicted suicidal ideation. Results of this study provide evidence for the need to adopt separate strategies for each gender, taking the different predictors of suicidal ideation into account in the development of suicide prevention programs for older adults in Korea.
Highlights
Korea has one of the highest suicide rates in the world; between 2003 and 2016, Korea’s suicide rate was the highest among all the countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, 2018)
This study aimed to examine predictors of suicidal ideation among male and female older adults at personal, family, and social levels based on ecological systems theory
Fearlessness about death, filial responsibility (OR = 1.08, p < .05), and engaging in social activities (OR = 0.69, p < .05) were significantly associated with suicidal ideation at follow-up controlling for other factors
Summary
Korea has one of the highest suicide rates in the world; between 2003 and 2016, Korea’s suicide rate was the highest among all the countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, 2018). In 2015, 25.8 persons out of every 100,000 Koreans died by suicide, which is the highest out of all the OECD countries and more than double the average of OECD countries (11.6 persons). Korea has ranked first in suicide rates for 14 consecutive years since 2003 (OECD, 2018). Since Korea became an aging society, the suicide rate among older adults aged 65 years and above was found to be staggeringly high, and became a very serious social issue. According to the Korean death statistics in 2017, the death rate by suicide among older Koreans aged 80 years and above was at its peak of 70.0 persons for every 100,000 persons (Statistics Korea, 2018). Elderly suicide rate in Korea was 3.2 times the average of OECD countries (Korea Suicide Prevention Center, 2018)
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