Chronic medical conditions and wishes to die among older primary care patients

Objective: To determine the prevalence of wishes to die and the medical correlates of wishes to die among primary care patients aged 65 years and older. Method: Three-hundred and fifty-five adults with and without significant depressive symptoms who were screened in primary care offices and invited to participate completed a baseline in-home assessment. Participants were interviewed using standardized measures of medical conditions, functional status, and psychological status. Thoughts of death and wishes to die were assessed with standard questions from the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) Depression Section. Results: The weighted point prevalence of thoughts of death was 9.7% and 6.1% for the wish to die.