The relationship between elderly suicides rates, household size and family structure: A cross-national study

Abstract

Background. Cultural factors may influence cross-national variations in elderly suicide rates. Methods. A cross-national study examining the relationship between elderly suicide rates and (i) mean household size and (ii) family structure was conducted with the “a priori” unidirectional hypothesis that larger mean household size and greater proportion of extended families may imply a greater number of people being potentially available within the household to provide support and respect to the elderly and to hold them in high esteem, and ultimately leading to reduction in elderly suicide rates. Data on elderly suicide rates was ascertained from the World Health Organisation website. Data on mean household size and family structure was ascertained from a report from the Inter-American Development Bank. Results. The main findings were elderly suicide rates in both sexes were significantly correlated with the mean household size (negative), percentage of extended households (negative; except in males aged 65–74 years where this approached significance) and percentage of single person households (positive). Conclusions. The impact of mean household size and family structure on elderly suicide rates may interact with and be modified and mediated through cultural factors. The contribution of cross-national differences in cultural factors on elderly suicide rates requires further study by formally measuring cultural factors with validated instruments.