The Relationship Between Elderly Suicide Rates and the Human Development Index: a Cross-National Study of Secondary Data From the World Health Organization and the United Nations

The relationship between the Human Development Index & elderly suicide rates was examined in a cross-national study utilizing secondary data from the World Health Organization & the Untied Nations. There was a significant curvilinear relationship between elderly suicide rates in males & the Human Development Index. A similar relationship was observed in females, but the significance level only approached 0.05. A model with 4 sequential stages was proposed to explain the findings: low elderly suicide rate-low human development society; high elderly suicide rate-low human development society, high elderly suicide rate-high human development society; & low elderly suicide rate-high human development society. (59 refs)