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

Abstract

This study evaluated regional variations (South, Centre, and North of Europe) in passive death wishes (wish to die) and predictors of passive death wishes, using a cross-national longitudinal design. The Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) is a cross national European survey of individuals over the age of 50 and their spouse of any age. This study relied on wave 1 and 2 of SHARE. Passive death wishes were evaluated using an item from the Euro-D. A variety of clinical and sociodemographic variables were evaluated as potential predictors. The rate of passive death wishes was significantly lower in Northern Europe (4.6%) than in Southern (8.5%) and Central Europe (7.0%). Older adults, females, those reporting more depressive symptoms, more medical conditions, and lower levels of hope in wave 1 were more likely to report passive death wishes in wave 2, unrelated to geographic region. In contrast, passive death wishes reported in wave 1 were a stronger risk for passive death wishes in wave 2 for Northern Europeans than for Southern Europeans. Despite notable geographic differences in the prevalence rate of passive death wishes, most predictors evaluated in the present study function similarly across the three European regions.