ObjectivesFamily members are often cancer patients’ primary source of social and emotional support and make a major contribution to how well patients manage their illness. We compared the prevalence of depression in the family members of cancer patients and the general population. MethodsThis study used the data from the fourth, fifth, and sixth rounds of the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The variable of interest was the presence of a cohabitating cancer patient in the family and the dependent variable was the presence of diagnosed depression. ResultsThe odds of having medically diagnosed depression in those with a cohabitating cancer patient in the family were significantly higher than among those who did not have cancer patients in their families (odds ratio [OR], 1.56; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.12 to 2.17; p=0.009). The OR for females was 1.59, and this increase was statistically significant (95% CI, 1.09 to 2.31; p=0.02). ConclusionsWe need to invest more effort into diagnosing and managing depression in the family members of cancer patients. This will have an impact both on their quality of life and on the well-being of patients, as supporters and caregivers play an instrumental role in helping patients manage their illness.

Whether older adults can more likely commit suicide than those in other age groups, after adjusting for other possible causes, remains unknown. We aimed to examine why elderly individuals are more likely to develop first-onset suicidal ideation than individuals in other age groups. We identified 2018 young, 3329 middle-aged, and 2714 elderly individuals without a history of suicidal ideation, from the Korean Welfare Panel Study 2011–2021. To determine key stressors that can induce suicidal ideation, selected groups of variables were adjusted progressively in a generalized estimating equation (GEE) model. Incidence rates of the elderly, middle-aged, and young individuals were 15.9, 22.0, and 11.3 per 1000 person-years, respectively. In GEE analysis, a positive association was not noted between age group and suicidal ideation after adjusting for stressor variables. Furthermore, the overly adjusted model (Full model) showed a strong negative association with aging; young [odds ratio (OR): 1.68, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.35–2.11] and middle-aged (OR: 1.94, 95% CI: 1.38–2.73) individuals were more likely to develop first-onset suicidal ideation than the elderly. We found that full models, particularly assessing wealth rather than income, can explain why the elderly have higher suicide rates than those in other age groups.