ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate the risk factors affecting suicidal ideation in community dwelling elderly individuals and to predict suicidal ideation through assessment tools.METHODS: We investigated 2,343 elderly individuals, aged 65 years or older, from February 2018 to December 2018. The participants were asked to complete sociodemographic questionnaires, including the Mini-Mental Status Examination for Dementia Screening(MMSE-DS), Short Geriatric Depression Scale(SGDS-K), Geriatric Anxiety Inventory(GAI), Athens Insomnia Scale(AIS), and Scales for Suicidal Ideation(SSI). We performed the Chi-squared test and logistic regression analysis for these data, to examine the relationship between suicidal ideation and the participants' risk factors. Moreover, we performed Receiver Operating Characteristics(ROC) curve analysis, to predict suicidal ideation through the assessment tools.RESULTS: The prevalence of suicidal ideation was 6.0%. Binary logistic regression revealed that cognitive impairment (OR=1.729, CI : 1.029–2.904), depression(OR=3.479, CI : 2.177–5.560), anxiety(OR=3.822, CI : 2.454–5.951), and sleeping disorders(OR=1.661, CI : 1.132–2.438) were independently associated with suicidal ideation. The cutoffs to predict suicidal ideation, obtained using ROC analysis were ≤21[area under the curve(AUC) : 0.582] for the MMSE-DS, >6(AUC : 0.822) for SGDS, >3(AUC : 0.817) for GAI, and >8(AUC : 0.718) for AIS.CONCLUSION: The incidence of suicidal ideation in the community dwelling elderly was quite high and was particularly related with depression and anxiety. These results could contribute to prevention and management of suicide among community dwelling elderly individuals.