Scholarlink

Background <p>Suicide prevention among older adults is a major public health concern in Japan, where the population is rapidly ageing. In 2020, approximately 40% of all suicide deaths occurred among people aged 60 years and older. Previous suicide prevention efforts have focused primarily on early detection and management of depression, while the social determinants of suicide among older adults remain underexplored. This study examined the associations between social indicators, aggregated lifestyle-related data derived from health checkups, and suicide rates among older adults to inform policy development.</p> Methods <p>Using publicly available data, we examined the associations between the standardised mortality ratio (SMR) for suicide and socioeconomic factors, lifestyle, and lifestyle-related diseases among adults aged 60 years and older across secondary medical areas, which represent practical administrative units for implementing public health policies. Nonparametric correlation and multiple regression analyses were conducted.</p> Results <p>Multiple regression analysis showed positive associations between suicide SMR and hypertension, smoking, daily alcohol consumption, older adult single-person households, and employment rate of older adults among men. The analysis showed negative associations with the number of psychotherapists and psychiatrists and income per taxpayer among women.</p> Conclusions <p>Suicide risk among older adults demonstrates distinct gender-specific determinants. Preventive strategies should integrate health-related behaviours, socioeconomic factors, and mental health resource availability, and should be adapted to local contexts to effectively mitigate suicide risk, while acknowledging the limitations inherent in the ecological study design.</p>

错误：搜索内容不能为空，请输入英文关键词
错误：关键词超出字数限制，请精简
高级检索

Social determinants of older adult suicide: an ecological study using data of Japanese secondary medical areas

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

    开放获取

  • 发表日期：

    2026年6月20日

查看全文
  • Shizuka Kudo,
  • Tomoko Kodama,
  • Yuri Sasaki

摘要

Background

Suicide prevention among older adults is a major public health concern in Japan, where the population is rapidly ageing. In 2020, approximately 40% of all suicide deaths occurred among people aged 60 years and older. Previous suicide prevention efforts have focused primarily on early detection and management of depression, while the social determinants of suicide among older adults remain underexplored. This study examined the associations between social indicators, aggregated lifestyle-related data derived from health checkups, and suicide rates among older adults to inform policy development.

Methods

Using publicly available data, we examined the associations between the standardised mortality ratio (SMR) for suicide and socioeconomic factors, lifestyle, and lifestyle-related diseases among adults aged 60 years and older across secondary medical areas, which represent practical administrative units for implementing public health policies. Nonparametric correlation and multiple regression analyses were conducted.

Results

Multiple regression analysis showed positive associations between suicide SMR and hypertension, smoking, daily alcohol consumption, older adult single-person households, and employment rate of older adults among men. The analysis showed negative associations with the number of psychotherapists and psychiatrists and income per taxpayer among women.

Conclusions

Suicide risk among older adults demonstrates distinct gender-specific determinants. Preventive strategies should integrate health-related behaviours, socioeconomic factors, and mental health resource availability, and should be adapted to local contexts to effectively mitigate suicide risk, while acknowledging the limitations inherent in the ecological study design.