Suicidal tendencies as correlates of disability measures
Permanent link
https://hdl.handle.net/10037/10283Date
2015-07-27Type
Journal articleTidsskriftartikkel
Peer reviewed
Abstract
Abstract
Disabilities and resultant handicaps may impair health-related quality of life to the degree that individuals feel
that life is not worth living. Using archived 2009 Canadian Community Health Survey data, this study found
that each of seven measures of disabilities (Health Utilities Index sub-scales of problems in (1) vision, (2)
hearing, (3) speech, (4) mobility, (5) dexterity, (6) cognition, and (7) pain) had small but significant (p<0.001)
positive correlations with each of seven measures of suicidality: (1) Health Utilities Index emotion problems,
(2) diagnosed depression, (3) dissatisfaction with life in general, (4) feeling helpless dealing with problems in
life, (5) feeling hopeless during the past month, (6) feeling worthless during the past month, and (7) suicidal
thoughts ever in life). A second study examined the 724 individuals in the 2009 Canadian Community Health
Survey data with Health Utilities Index scores less than 0.00, which Health Utilities Index protocol defines
to be “worse than dead.” These individuals were described by demographic, disability, health, social, and
suicidality measures, which showed the Health Utilities Index categorization of “worse than dead” to have
doubtful validity. For example, mean measures of emotion problems and dissatisfaction with life were midrange;
only half reported depression or suicidal thought; and only 18 percent chose the Health Utilities Index
response that “life is not worth living.”
Description
Accepted manuscript version. Published source at http://doi.org/10.1177/1359105315592048.