The Gerontologist
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Oyama, H.
Right arrow Articles by Sakashita, T.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Oyama, H.
Right arrow Articles by Sakashita, T.
The Gerontologist 46:821-826 (2006)
© 2006 The Gerontological Society of America

BRIEF REPORT

Outcomes of Community-Based Screening for Depression and Suicide Prevention Among Japanese Elders

Hirofumi Oyama, PhD1, Motoi Fujita, PhD2, Masahiro Goto, PhD3, Hiroshi Shibuya, BA4 and Tomoe Sakashita, MA1

Correspondence: Address correspondence to Tomoe Sakashita, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aomori University of Health and Welfare, 58-1, Mase Hamadate, Aomori 030-8505, Japan. E-mail: t_sakashita{at}auhw.ac.jp

Abstract

Purpose: In this study we evaluate outcomes of a community-based program to prevent suicide among elderly individuals aged 65 and older. Design and Methods: We used a quasi-experimental design with intervention and referent municipalities. The program included a 7-year implementation of depression screening with follow-up by general practitioners and a 10-year implementation of public education conducted in Yasuzuka (population 4,940; elderly suicide rate for women, 275/100,000; for men, 323/100,000). We estimated changes in the risk of completing suicide before and after the 10-year implementation by the incidence-rate ratio (IRR).Results: The risk for women in the intervention area was reduced by 64% (age-adjusted IRR = 0.36; 95% confidence interval = 0.14–0.93), whereas there was no significant change in the risk for men in the intervention area and either men or women in the referent municipalities. A ratio of the IRR for women aged 65 to 74 in the intervention area to that in its prefecture was estimated at 0.23 (90% confidence interval = 0.05–0.99), showing that the risk reduction was greater than the secular trend. Implications:The management of depression by use of community resources involving public health and primary care physicians is effective in the prevention of suicide for elderly women but uncertain for men.

Key Words: Community-based intervention • Controlled clinical trial • Gender difference • Incidence rate ratio • Quasi-experimental design






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
All GSA journals Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences
Copyright © 2006 by The Gerontological Society of America.