ArticleBMC medical ethics2021
Current wishes to die; characteristics of middle-aged and older Dutch adults who are ready to give up on life: a cross-sectional study.
Article in BMC medical ethics, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 22 citations in OpenAlex.
- Understanding death wishes in later life: a narrative review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Review
- The Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam: design and cohort update 2025.European journal of epidemiology · 2025Article
- Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide in People With an Accumulation of Health Problems Related to Old Age: A Cross-Sectional Questionnaire Study Among Physicians in the Netherlands.International journal of public health · 2024Article
- Lifelong versus not lifelong death wishes in older adults without severe illness: a cross-sectional survey.BMC geriatrics · 2022Article
- Intentionally ending one's own life in the presence or absence of a medical condition: A nationwide mortality follow-back study.SSM - population health · 2021Article
- Questioning the value of present life: The lived experience of older people who see no future for themselves.Aging & mental healthArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundLiterature shows that middle-aged and older adults sometimes experience a wish to die. Reasons for these wishes may be complex and involve multiple factors. One important question is to what extent people with a wish to die have medically classifiable conditions.
aim(1) Estimate the prevalence of a current wish to die among middle-aged and older adults in The Netherlands; (2) explore which factors within domains of vulnerability (physical, cognitive, social and psychological) are associated with a current wish to die; (3) assess how many middle-aged and older adults with a current wish to die do not have a medically classifiable condition and/or an accumulation of age-related health problems.
methodsData of 2015/16 from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam were used for this cross-sectional study (1563 Dutch middle-aged and older adults aged between 57 and 99 years), obtained through structured medical interviews and self-reported questionnaires. Three experienced physicians assessed whether the participants with a current wish to die could be classified as having a medically classifiable condition and/or an accumulation of age-related health problems.
resultsN = 62 participants (4.0%) had a current wish to die. Having a current wish to die was associated with multiple characteristics across four domains of vulnerability, among which: self-perceived health, problems with memory, self-perceived quality of life and meaningfulness of life. Fifty-four participants with a current wish to die were assessed with having a medically classifiable condition, of which one was also assessed with having an accumulation of age-related health problems. Six people were assessed to have neither, and for two people it was unclear.
conclusionA small minority of middle-aged and older adults in the Netherlands have a current wish to die. Most of them can be classified with a medical condition and one person with an accumulation of age-related health problems. Furthermore, the findings show that having a current wish to die is multi-faceted. There is still a need for more knowledge, such as insight in to what extent suffering stemming from the medical classifiable disease contributes to the development of the wish to die.
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