The Relationship between Perceived Social Class and Suicidal Ideation in Korean Elderly

Abstract

Objectives This is to explore the relationship between perceived social class and experience of suicidal ideation among the elderly and to provide policy implications in terms of health promotion and prevention of a suicide committed by the elderly. Methods As a secondary data analyses a sample of the elderly aged 65 and older (n=2,209) was drawn from the panel of Korea Medical Care Utilization collected in year of 2012. Multivariate logistic regressions were employed to explore an association of perceived social class and suicidal ideation with held socio-demographic covariates constant with using SPSS 22.0. Results Of the respondent 8.8% of them reported to have experienced at least once suicidal ideation in previous year and to perceived themselves as members of lower social class groups (Mean=3.62 out of 10 score). Multivariate logistic regression showed that perceived social class was associated with experience of suicidal ideation. Those among the lowest social group were 2.19 times as high as those among the highest likely to have experience of a suicidal ideation during a year under study. Significant covariates being associated with experience of suicidal ideation included gender, abilities to perform physical activities, and the number of chronic diseases they have. Conclusions With psychological and physical health factors, perceived social class should be taken into consideration in making an effort to prevent a suicide committed by an elderly. Key words: Elders, Perceived social class, Suicidal ideation, Korean medical care utilization panel