Epidemiology of suicidal feelings in an ageing Swedish population: from old to very old age in the Gothenburg H70 Birth Cohort Studies.

AIMS: The first aim of this study was to provide prevalence suicidal feelings over time (past week, past month, past year and lifetime) in a population-based sample of old to very old adults without dementia. Does prevalence change with rising age? The second aim was to examine the fluctuation of suicidal feelings over time. How does this coincide with depression status? METHODS: Data were derived from the Gothenburg H70 Birth Cohort Studies (the H70 studies) which are multidisciplinary longitudinal studies on ageing. A representative sample of adults in Gothenburg, Sweden with birth years 1901-1944 were invited to take part in a longitudinal health study on ageing and participated at one or more occasions during 1986-2014. The sample consisted of 6668 observations originating from 3972 participants without dementia between the ages of 70 and 108, including 1604 participants with multiple examination times. Suicidal feelings were examined during a psychiatric interview using the Paykel questions (life not worth living, death wishes, thoughts of taking own life, seriously considered taking life, attempted suicide). RESULTS: Prevalence figures for suicidal feelings of any severity were as follows: past week 4.8%, past month 6.7%, past year 11.2% and lifetime 25.2%. Prevalence rates increased with age in the total group and in women but not in men. Suicidal feelings were common in participants with concurrent major or minor depression, but over a third of the participants who reported suicidal feelings did not fulfil criteria for these diagnoses nor did they present elevated mean depressive symptom scores. The majority of participants consistently reported no experience of suicidal feelings over multiple examination times, but fluctuation was more common in women compared with men. CONCLUSION: Suicidal feelings in late-life are uncommon in individuals without depression indicating that such behaviour is not a widespread, normative phenomenon. However, such feelings may occur outside the context of depression.

Depression and neuroticism decrease among women but not among men between 1976 and 2016 in Swedish septuagenarians.

OBJECTIVES: We evaluated birth-cohort differences in depressive symptom burden, prevalence of depression diagnoses, and neuroticism, among Swedish 70-year-olds examined between 1976 and 2016. METHODS: We used a repeated cross-sectional design examining four representative population samples of Swedish 70-year-olds (total n = 2279) with identical methods in 1976-77 (n = 392), 1992-93 (n = 226), 2000-02 (n = 487), and 2014-16 (n = 1166). Depressive symptom burden was rated with the Montgomery Åsberg Depression Rating Scale. Major depression was diagnosed according to DSM-5, and minor depression according to DSM-IV-TR research criteria. Neuroticism was rated with the Eysenck Personality Inventory. RESULTS: For women in 2014-16, MADRS score (4.4 vs. 6.1 vs. 5.8; P < 0.05) and neuroticism (6.6 vs. 7.7 vs. 9.2; P < 0.05) were lower compared with 1992-93 and 1976-77, and the prevalence of any depression was lower compared with 2000-02 and 1992-93 (10.9% vs. 16.9% vs. 18.1%; P < 0.05). For men, we observed no birth-cohort differences in depression, while neuroticism was found to be lower in 2014-16 compared with 1976-77 among men without depression (5.1 vs. 5.9; P < 0.01). The sex difference for MADRS and neuroticism declined between 1976-77 and 2014-16 (cohort*sex P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Depressive burden and neuroticism decreased in 70-year-old women between 1976 and 2016.

The prognosis and incidence of social phobia in an elderly population. A 5-year follow-up.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the prognosis and incidence of social fears and phobia in an elderly population sample followed for 5 years. METHOD: A general population sample (N = 612) of non-demented men (baseline age 70) and women (baseline age 70 and 78-86) was investigated in 2000-2001 and in 2005-2006 with semi-structured psychiatric examinations including the Comprehensive Psychopathological Rating Scale, and the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview. Social phobia was diagnosed according to the DSM-IV criteria. RESULTS: Among nine individuals with DSM-IV social phobia in 2000, 5 (55.6%) had no social fears in 2005, and 1 (11.1%) still met the criteria for DSM-IV social phobia. Among individuals without DSM-IV social phobia in 2000 (N = 603), 12 (2.0%) had DSM-IV social phobia in 2005. CONCLUSION: These findings challenge the notion that social phobia is a chronic disorder with rare occurrence in old age.