VU University Medical Center, Department of Public and Occupational Health, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Crisis. 2011;32(4):194-203. doi: 10.1027/0227-5910/a000079.
Death thoughts and wishes occur frequently among older people. In different European countries estimates of 10%-20% have been found.
To determine the prevalence and associated factors of death thoughts and wishes among older people in The Netherlands.
In The Netherlands 1794 people (58-98 years) were interviewed in 2005/2006 (Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam).
81.3% reported never having death thoughts/wishes; 15.3% reported having had such thoughts/wishes; 3.4% reported currently having a wish to die and/or a weakened wish to continue living. Of those with a current wish to die, 67% had depressive symptoms (vs. 32% of people with death thoughts/wishes ever and 9% of people who never had had death thoughts/wishes), and 20% suffered from a depressive disorder (vs. 5% if death thoughts/wishes ever; 0.3% if never death thoughts/wishes). In a multivariate analysis, a current wish to die was associated with having depressive symptoms, a depressive disorder, lower perceived mastery, financial problems, loneliness, small network, involuntary urine loss, being divorced, and having a speech impediment.
Practical implications for health-care professionals are that they should be aware that in certain situations older people are more likely to develop a wish to die, and that a wish to die does not necessarily mean that someone has a depressive disorder. Nevertheless, it should serve as a trigger to investigate and to treat depression if present.
老年人经常会有死亡的想法和愿望。在不同的欧洲国家，估计有 10%-20%的老年人有这种想法和愿望。
确定荷兰老年人中死亡想法和愿望的流行率及相关因素。
在 2005/2006 年，荷兰对 1794 名（58-98 岁）老年人进行了访谈（阿姆斯特丹纵向老龄化研究）。
81.3%的人报告从未有过死亡想法/愿望；15.3%的人报告曾经有过这样的想法/愿望；3.4%的人报告目前有想死的愿望和/或对继续生活的愿望减弱。在目前有想死愿望的人中，67%有抑郁症状（相比之下，曾经有过死亡想法/愿望的人有 32%，从未有过死亡想法/愿望的人有 9%），20%患有抑郁症（相比之下，曾经有过死亡想法/愿望的人有 5%，从未有过死亡想法/愿望的人有 0.3%）。在多变量分析中，目前想死的愿望与有抑郁症状、抑郁障碍、感知控制能力较低、经济问题、孤独、社交网络小、非自愿性尿失禁、离婚和言语障碍有关。
对医疗保健专业人员的实际影响是，他们应该意识到，在某些情况下，老年人更容易产生想死的愿望，而且想死的愿望并不一定意味着某人患有抑郁症。然而，如果存在这种情况，它应该作为一个触发因素，来调查和治疗抑郁症。
