The impact of health-related quality of life on suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among Korean older adults

The purpose of this study was to examine the risk factors for suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among Korean older adults and to provide evidence for nursing intervention with respect to health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Data from adults 60 and older obtained through the Fourth Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2007-2009) were used. Self-report questionnaires assessed suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, and EuroQoL 5D (EQ-5D) scores. Survey logistic regression was used to reflect the complex survey design. Among the sample of 4,506 individuals, 27.3% had thought about and 1.7% had attempted suicide. Older adults with EQ-5D index scores <0.7 had a 9.1-fold greater odds ratio for suicidal ideation than those with scores of 1 (denotes completely healthy status) (95% confidence interval [CI] [5.3, 15.8]). For suicide attempts, older adults with EQ-5D index scores <0.7 had a 3.4-fold greater odds ratio (95% CI [1.3, 8.9]) than those with index scores of 0.8 to 1. Decreased HRQoL strongly affected suicidal ideation, regardless of disease status. Due to its comprehensiveness and simplicity, the EQ-5D may be useful for identifying older individuals in nursing homes at risk of attempting suicide.