Middlesex University, London, UK.
Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK.
Int Psychogeriatr. 2022 May;34(5):439-452. doi: 10.1017/S1041610221002659. Epub 2021 Nov 19.
Rates of suicide in older adults may be higher than reported due to poor understandings of presentation of suicide ideation in this group. The objectives of this paper were to (i) review current measurement tools designed for older adults to detect suicide ideation and (ii) assess their psychometric properties.
We used a systematic review approach to identify measurement tools developed specifically for older adults without cognitive decline or impairment.
Ten articles that reported on a total of seven different measurement tools were identified. These included tools that focused on resiliency to suicide and those that measured risk of suicide behavior. There was wide variation across the articles: some were adaptations of existing scales to suit older populations, others were developed by authors; they varied in length from four to 69 items; a range of settings was used, and there was a mix of self-report and clinician-administered measures. Most displayed good psychometric properties, with both approaches showing similar quality. Limitations in terms of samples, settings, and measurement design are discussed.
The case for specific measures for older adults is clear from this review. There appear to be unique factors that should be considered in understanding suicide ideation and behavior among older adults that may not be directly assessed in non-specific measurements. However, there is a need to expand the diversity of individuals included in measurement development to ensure they are appropriate across gender, culture and minority status, and for the views of professionals to be considered.
由于对老年人自杀意念表现的理解不足，老年人的自杀率可能高于报告的自杀率。本文的目的是：(i) 回顾目前专为老年人设计的用于检测自杀意念的测量工具，以及 (ii) 评估它们的心理测量学特性。
我们采用系统综述方法来确定专为无认知能力下降或障碍的老年人设计的测量工具。
确定了 10 篇文章，总共报告了 7 种不同的测量工具。这些工具包括关注自杀抵抗力的工具和测量自杀行为风险的工具。文章之间存在广泛差异：有些是为适应老年人群体而改编的现有量表，有些是作者开发的；它们的长度从 4 项到 69 项不等；使用了多种设置，既有自我报告也有临床医生管理的测量。大多数都具有良好的心理测量学特性，两种方法的质量都相似。讨论了样本、设置和测量设计方面的局限性。
从本次综述来看，为老年人制定具体措施的理由是充分的。在理解老年人的自杀意念和行为时，似乎存在一些独特的因素，这些因素可能无法在非特定的测量中直接评估。然而，有必要扩大测量开发中纳入的个体多样性，以确保它们在性别、文化和少数群体地位方面具有普适性，并考虑专业人员的意见。
