Suicidal ideation among the hypertensive individuals in Shandong, China: a path analysis

BACKGROUND: Although massive studies have explored the risk factors of suicidal ideation (SI), the prevalence of SI and its associated factors in the hypertensive individuals are largely unknown. This study aims to investigate the factors associated with SI in the hypertensive individuals. METHODS: Three thousand nine hundred eleven hypertensive individuals in Shandong, China were included in the analysis. SI was assessed by using a question from the NCS (National Comorbidity Survey). We used binary logistic regression analysis to explore the factors associated with SI, and path analysis to test the direct and indirect relationships between associated factors and SI among hypertensive patients. RESULTS: The prevalence of SI in the hypertensive individual was19.6%. Psychological distress had the greatest direct (β = 0.640, p-value <0.01) and total effect (β = 0.640, p-value <0.01) on SI. Other factors including comorbidity (β = 0.090, p-value <0.01), gender (β = 0.088, p-value <0.01), marital status (β = − 0.037, p-value <0.01), economic status (β = − 0.106, p-value <0.01), residence (β = − 0.050, p-value <0.01), alcohol use (β = 0.011, p-value <0.01), exercise (β = − 0.114, p-value <0.01), hospitalization (β = 0.041, p-value <0.01) only had indirect effects on SI. Psychological distress was a mediator between SI and those variables. CONCLUSION: A significant mediation effect of psychological distress on the associations between SI and some associated factors (i.e., economic status, comorbidity) was demonstrated.