The prevalence of suicidal ideation among the elderly in China: A meta-analysis of 11 cross-sectional studies

Abstract Objective This study aimed to estimate the pooled prevalence of suicidal ideation among Chinese elderly aged ≥60 years. Methods Two reviewers independently searched the potentially relevant studies through electronic database (PubMed-Medline, Embase, Wanfang Data, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure and Chongqing VIP) using key terms ‘suicid*’, ‘suicidal ideation’ combined with ‘aged’, ‘elderly’ and ‘old people’. All selected studies should meet the eligibility criteria in this study. Chi-square based Q test and I2 statistic assessed the heterogeneity. Forest plots were used to display results graphically. Potential publication bias was assessed by the funnel plot and Begg’s test. Prevalence rate was meta-analysed. Results In total, 11 studies were included with 11,526 subjects. The prevalence of suicidal ideation among Chinese elderly ranged from 2.2% to 21.5%. The pooled prevalence of all 11 studies was 11.5% (95% CI: 8.3%–14.8%). Subgroup analyses showed the prevalence for males was 11.0%, and for the females was 15.6%. In three subgroups for age, 60–69, 70–79 and ≥80, the prevalence was 9.1%, 12.1% and 18.9% respectively. A slightly higher prevalence in rural areas was calculated than in urban (14.7% vs. 11.8%). In mainland China, the prevalence was 12.6%. And in Taiwan and Hongkong, the pooled prevalence was 9.2%. Conclusions The prevalence of suicidal ideation was relatively high among elderly in China, and it should attract enough attention.