Elderly people gathering at Tapgol Park in central Seoul to spend their free time. (Yonhap)
WANJU, Oct. 29 (Korea Bizwire) — A recent study revealed that older people living alone can reduce depression and suicidal thoughts through social participation.
A mental health welfare center in the southwestern county of Wanju, North Jeolla Province carried out a study of 1,065 older people between the ages of 60 and 90 who live alone within the region.
The study showed that the impact of depression on suicidal thoughts had a significance probability of less than 0.05 (p<0.0001), indicating that it was statistically significant.
The impact of social participation on suicide also proved to be statistically significant (p=0.0022).
However, the correlation between physical illness and suicide had a significance probability of higher than 0.05 (p=0.2688), indicating that it is not statistically significant.
In other words, the data shows that physical illness itself does not have a direct impact on suicide.
The study concluded that older people living alone are more likely to commit suicide if they have a higher level of depression and a lower level of social participation.
The center suggested that the suicide rate for elderly people living alone could be lowered by increasing the level of their social participation and offering mental health services.
The age of the older people living alone who participated in the study averaged 81.4 years old, with the number of physical illnesses averaging 2.9. Among them, those who lived alone for more than 10 years accounted for 70 percent of the total.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
