Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34243751›Full record

ArticleBMC public health2021

Life weariness, suicidal thoughts and mortality: a sixteen-year longitudinal study among men and women older than 60 years.

Cecilia Fagerström, Anna-Karin Welmer, Sölve Elmståhl, Hanna Tuvesson

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC public health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
1.3field-weighted citation impact, top 18% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Cecilia FagerströmDepartment of Health and Caring Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Linnaeus University, Kalmar, Sweden.
Anna-Karin WelmerDepartment of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Aging Research Center, Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
Sölve ElmståhlDivision of Geriatric Medicine, Department of Clinical Sciences in Malmö, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden.
Hanna TuvessonDepartment of Health and Caring Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Linnaeus University, Växjö, Sweden. hanna.tuvesson@lnu.se.ORCID 0000-0003-1020-5141
Linnaeus University · SELund University · SEStockholm University · SE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundSuicide in old age is a significant contributor to mortality. However, the extent to which life weariness and suicidal thoughts impact on mortality in a long-term perspective is unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of life weariness and suicidal thoughts on long-term survival (16 years) in an older Swedish population, controlling for demographic and social network factors and depression. A further aim was to investigate differences in sex and age interactions in relation to mortality among individuals with and without life weariness and suicidal thoughts.

methodsA longitudinal cohort study on a national, representative sample of individuals aged 60+ years was conducted within the Swedish National Study of Aging and Care study. The sample included 7213 individuals, who provided information about life weariness and suicidal thoughts through an item derived from the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale. Data were analysed with multivariate Cox proportional hazards models, adjusted for potential confounders.

resultsAt baseline, 12.5% of the participants (14.6% of females and 9.5% of males) reported life weariness and suicidal thoughts. During the 16-year follow-up, a mean survival time was 11.5 years (standard deviation (SD) 5.6), and 3804 individuals died (59.5% females and 40.5% males). Individuals with life weariness and suicidal thoughts had half the survival rate compared with those without such thoughts (24.5% vs. 50.6%), with a mean survival time of 8.4 years (SD 5.7) versus 12.0 years (SD 5.4). The multi-adjusted hazard ratio of mortality for those reporting life weariness and suicidal thoughts was 1.44 (95% confidence interval, 1.30-1.59), with the population attributable risk at 11.1%. In the models, being male or female 80+ years showed the highest multi-adjusted hazard ratio of long-term mortality (ref. female 60-69 years).

conclusionsThe findings suggested that life weariness and suicidal thoughts were risk factors for long-term mortality, when controlled for sex and age interactions that were found to strongly predict long-term mortality. These findings have practical implications in prevention of mortality, emphasising the importance of screening, identifying, and intercepting older men and women with signs of life weariness and suicidal thoughts.

trial registrationNot applicable.

Indexed as

Suicidal IdeationSuicideAgedAgingFemaleHumansLongitudinal StudiesMaleSwedenLife wearinessLongitudinal studyOld ageSuicidal thoughts

Identifiers

PMID34243751
PMCPMC8268207
OpenAlexW3182751783

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.