304例老年自杀死亡者死前负性生活事件分析

Analysis of negative life events among 304 elderly suicide victims

目的 了解老年自杀死亡者死前经历的负性生活事件,探索其与抑郁症状的关系。方法 对304例55岁以上老年自杀死亡者家属和知情者进行调查,了解死者生前生活事件、精神疾患、死前2周抑郁程度等情况。结果 老年自杀死亡者死前前3位的生活事件依次为患急重病或受重伤(占59.2％)、生活规律(饮食、睡眠等)的重大变化(占37.8％)和经济困难(占34.5％)。不管有无精神疾病,经历上述三个生活事件者的抑郁程度均显著高于未经历者。结论 老年自杀死亡者死前较大比例经历过多个负性生活事件,某些负性生活事件可能与其死前抑郁有关。

Objective To identify the most common life events that occured prior to suicide in elderly individuals and the relationship of these life events to depressive symptoms. Methods A detailed study considering life events in the year prior to death, the presence of mental illness at the time of death and the level of depressive symptoms in the 2 weeks prior to death was undertaken with the family members and other associates of 304 persons at 55 years of age and older who died of suicide. Results The three most common negative life events were acute or chronic physical illness or injury (59. 2%), major changes in diet, sleeping or other daily routines (37. 8%) and financial difficulties (34. 5 %). The severity of depressive symptoms was significantly greater among persons who had experienced these life events both for persons with or without definite mental illness. Conclusion Most elderly persons who died of suicide events had experienced multiple negative life events in the year prior to death and these life events were closely related to the severity of depressive symptoms at the time of death.