The pattern of life events preceding suicide among the elderly in rural China: a national case-control psychological autopsy study
Abstract Background Life events associated with an increased risk of suicide and prior to the suicide in China different from those in Western countries. But there is a lack of summary of the elderly life event patterns on Chinese suicide. The aim of this study was to identify the pattern of life events which precede suicide among the elderly in a Chinese culture context.Methods A two-stage stratified cluster sampling method was used in order to select research sites and 12 counties were randomly selected to recruit cases within three provinces. A case-control psychological autopsy study was then adopted. The study population consisted of 242 suicide cases each with an age of 60 and above, and 242 age-, sex-, and location-matched community living controls. During face-to-face interviews, the information from subjects and proxy informants was obtained by standardized trained investigators. Life events were measured using a 46-item Life Event Scale for the Elderly (LESE).Results About 99.6% of suicides and 88.4% of controls resulted from the experience of at least one life event. The elderly who had committed suicide experienced more long-term life events. The top three most frequent life events were being diagnosed with chronic disease, hospitalization, and being diagnosed with terminal illness. Women more often experienced the death of spouse, while men experienced more hospitalization, and were more likely to be diagnosed with terminal illness and suffer family poverty. The risk of suicide among the elderly who experience life events was 12.8 times higher than that in people who did not experience life events. The elderly who were having unstable marital status, suffering from physical diseases and diagnosed with mental disorders, are more likely to commit suicide.Conclusions Understanding the pattern of life events which precede suicides among the elderly in rural China plays an important role in the prevention of suicide. Several different long-term life events can lead to suicidal behavior, and the effect of life events on suicide is cumulative. Being diagnosed with a serious disease may be one of the risk signals for suicide among the elderly.