Table 3.
Associations of Physical Health Problems (vs No Physical Health Problems) as a Suicide Precipitant with Other Suicide Precipitating and Contributing Factors: Generalized Linear Modeling Results for Main and Interaction Effects
| Variable | Main effect model | Age group separate models | Interaction effect modela | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All age 55+ IRR (95% CI) |
55–64 age group IRR (95% CI) |
65–74 age group IRR (95% CI) |
75+ age group IRR (95% CI) |
All age 55+ IRR (95% CI) |
|
| Age group: vs 55–64 age group | |||||
| 65–74 age group | 1.49 (1.42–1.55)*** | 1.72 (1.61–1.85)*** | |||
| 75+ age group | 1.89 (1.80–1.99)*** | 2.16 (2.02–2.32)*** | |||
| Other suicide precipitating factors | |||||
| Intimate partner relationship problem vs none | 0.52 (0.48–0.56)*** | 0.53 (0.48–0.58)*** | 0.49 (0.43–0.56)*** | 0.55 (0.47–0.64)*** | 0.52 (0.47–0.58)*** |
| Other relationship problem vs none | 0.86 (0.80–0.93)*** | 0.86 (0.77–0.96)** | 0.84 (0.74–0.96)* | 0.89 (0.77–1.03) | 0.87 (0.78–0.97)* |
| Job, finance, and/or housing problem | 0.79 (0.75–0.84)*** | 0.85 (0.78–0.92)*** | 0.72 (0.65–0.80)*** | 0.74 (0.65–0.85)*** | 0.83 (0.77–0.90)*** |
| Criminal or civil legal problem | 0.46 (0.41–0.51)*** | 0.51 (0.44–0.59)*** | 0.42 (0.34–0.51)*** | 0.35 (0.25–0.50)*** | 0.50 (0.44–0.58)*** |
| Suicide/death of family/friend or traumatic anniversary | 0.80 (0.75–0.86)*** | 0.88 (0.79–0.98)* | 0.78 (0.69–0.88)*** | 0.77 (0.69–0.85)*** | 0.88 (0.79–0.98)* |
| Depressed mood vs none | 1.38 (1.33–1.43)*** | 1.49 (1.39–1.58)*** | 1.36 (1.27–1.45)*** | 1.31 (1.23–1.39)*** | 1.48 (1.39–1.57)*** |
| Any psychiatric disorder vs none | 0.98 (0.94–1.02) | 1.06 (0.99–1.12) | 0.93 (0.87–1.00)* | 0.95 (0.91–1.02) | 1.05 (0.99–1.12) |
| Alcohol problem vs none | 0.91 (0.85–0.96)** | 0.90 (0.83–0.97)** | 0.87 (0.78–0.96)* | 0.98 (0.84–1.15) | 0.90 (0.83–0.97)** |
| Other substance use problem vs none | 1.22 (1.13–1.31)*** | 1.25 (1.14–1.37)*** | 1.16 (1.01–1.34)* | 1.03 (0.79–1.33) | 1.26 (1.15–1.38)*** |
| Suicide attempt history vs none | 0.92 (0.87–0.97)** | 0.94 (0.87–1.03) | 0.90 (0.81–1.00)* | 0.86 (0.76–0.98)* | 0.95 (0.87–1.03) |
| Interaction effects | |||||
| Job, finance, and/or housing problem × age group | |||||
| Job, finance, and/or housing problem × 65–74 age group | 0.87 (0.76–0.99)* | ||||
| Job, finance, and/or housing problem × 75+ age group | 0.90 (0.77–1.04) | ||||
| Depressed mood × age group | |||||
| Depressed mood × 65–74 age group | 0.92 (0.84–1.01) | ||||
| Depressed mood × 75+ age group | 0.88 (0.81–0.96)** | ||||
| Psychiatric disorder × age group | |||||
| Psychiatric disorder × 65–74 age group | 0.89 (0.81–0.97)** | ||||
| Psychiatric disorder × 75+ age group | 0.91 (0.83–0.99)* | ||||
| N | 34,912 | 16,995 | 9,797 | 8,120 | 34,912 |
Notes: All models were adjusted for the following variables: Sex, race/ethnicity, education, marital status, military service status, census region, and the number of crises.
aNonsignificant interaction terms were excluded from the last column: Intimate partner relationship problem × age group; other relationship problem × age group; criminal/civil legal problem × age group; suicide/death of family/friend or traumatic anniversary × age group; alcohol problem × age; other substance use problem × age; and suicide attempt history × age group.
*p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001.