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 I 2 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.