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Table 2 Health/illness

From: Prevalence and characteristics of older adults with a persistent death wish without severe illness: a large cross-sectional survey

Aspects and items

Active

persistent death wish, no severe illness

N = 155

(0.7% of 21,294)

Passive persistent death wish, no severe illness

N = 93

(0.4% of 21,294)

Persistent

death wish (passive/ active

nature unknown), no severe illness

N = 19

(< 0.1% of 21,294)

Total group

“Persistent

death wish, no severe illness”

(PDW-NSI)

N = 267

(1.25% of 21,294)

Answer “No” to differentiation question - Does the description “seeing no future for oneself, longing for death, while not being severely ill” apply to you?

N = 20,883

(97.8% of 21,294)

P-value

PDW-NSI

group

vs.

Diff. question

= No

P-value

Active

vs.

Passive

Current health state VASa

 Median (Q1-Q3)

6 (5–7)

7 (6–8)

6 (6–7)

6 (6–7)

8 (7–8)

0.000

0.010

EQ-5D-5L sum scoreb

 Median (Q1-Q3)

10 (8–13)

8 (7–11)

11 (8–13)

10 (8–12)

7 (5–9)

0.000

0.000

HADS depression subscale, sum scorec

 Median (Q1-Q3)

11 (8–12)

8 (6–11.5)

10 (7–14)

10 (6.7–12)

3 (1–5)d

0.000

0.001

Life-threatening disease

 Never

110 (71.0)

76 (81.7)

13 (68.4)

199 (74.5)

16,388 (78.5)

0.196

0.139

 Yes, but not anymore

33 (21.3)

14 (15.1)

5 (26.3)

52 (19.5)

3595 (17.2)

 Yes, at this moment

12 (7.7)

3 (3.2)

1 (5.3)

16 (6.0)

900 (4.3)

Number of current diseasese

 None

9 (5.8)

16 (17.2)

0 (0.0)

25 (9.4)

288 (28.2)f

0.000

0.008

 Median (Q1-Q3)

2 (1–4)

1 (1–2)

3 (2–4)

2 (1–3)

1 (0–2)

0.000

0.000

Burden of current diseasesg

 Median (Q1-Q3)

7 (5–8)

6 (4.5–7)

6 (5–8)

7 (5–8)

4 (3–6)

0.000

0.005

Number of current complaintsh

 None

3 (1.9)

5 (5.4)

0 (0.0)

8 (3.0)

195 (19.1)i

0.000

0.155

 Median (Q1-Q3)

5 (3–7)

3 (2–6)

6 (4–9)

5 (3–7)

2 (1–4)

0.000

0.000

Burden of current complaintsj

 Median (Q1-Q3)

7 (5–7)

5.5 (4–7)

6 (5–8)

6 (5–7)

5 (3–6)

0.000

0.000

  1. Results are presented as N (%) unless “Median (Q1-Q3)” is reported
  2. Percentages may not add up to 100% because of rounding
  3. Medians are reported with 25th–75th percentiles
  4. Statistically significant results (p < 0.05) are in bold
  5. aVisual Analogue Scale ranging from 0 (worst imaginable) to 10 (best imaginable health state)
  6. bEQ-5D-5L sum scores range from 5 to 25. Higher sum scores indicate more severe problems on the five domains of health
  7. cHADS depression subscale, sum scores range from 0 to 21. Higher sum scores are related to a possible indication for depression with a greater severity
  8. dN = 1020 (comparison group)
  9. eChosen from the following list of diseases: joint conditions, osteoporosis, diabetes, neck or back problems, tightness of the chest (e.g. COPD, asthma), Crohn’s disease, MS/ALS, skin disease, thyroid disease, heart conditions, consequences of CVA, dementia, Parkinson’s disease, cancer, psychological complaints (mood or anxiety complaints, depression), other
  10. fPercentages are based on N = 1020 (comparison group)
  11. g10-point scale ranging from 1 (“very little”) to 10 (“very much”). Diseases are listed above
  12. hChosen from a list of complaints, such as hearing problems or deafness, tinnitus, headache, dizziness, obesity, incontinence, chronic itching, extreme/chronic fatigue, depressive feelings, obstipation and (chronic) pain, other
  13. iPercentages are based on N = 1020 (comparison group)
  14. j10-point scale ranging from 1 (“very little”) to 10 (“very much”). Complaints are listed above
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BMC Geriatrics

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