Table 1

Demographic characteristics among participants based on the presence of suicidal ideation in heads of households

Variables	Absence of suicidal ideation		Presence of suicidal ideation		Total		p Value
Variables	n	Per cent	n	Per cent	n	Per cent	p Value
Primary income earner characteristics
Sex							<0.001
Male	3040	74.1	76	52.1	3116	73.4
Female	1061	25.9	70	47.9	1131	26.6
Age, over 65 years							0.009
>65 years	1937	47.2	85	58.2	2022	47.6
Education							0.003
Graduation from elementary school	1376	33.6	65	44.5	1441	33.9
Graduation from middle school	545	13.3	26	17.8	571	13.4
Graduation from high school	1198	29.2	33	22.6	1231	29.0
Graduation from college	982	23.9	22	15.1	1004	23.6
The presence of a spouse							<0.001
Presence	2858	69.7	66	45.2	2924	68.8
Perceived health status							<0.001
Excellent	2271	55.4	40	27.4	2311	54.4
Good	912	22.2	31	21.2	943	22.2
Poor	918	22.4	75	51.4	993	23.4
Regular medication more than 3 months*							<0.001
Presence	2492	60.8	117	80.1	2609	61.4
Depressive mood	Mean	SD	Mean	SD	Mean		<0.001
Sum of CESD-11	18.808	2.9	23.151	4.3	18.953
Household characteristics
Income level							<0.001
<25% (lowest)	756	18.4	55	37.7	811	19.1
25–50%	953	23.2	39	26.7	992	23.4
51–75%	1140	27.8	34	23.3	1174	27.6
>75% (highest)	1252	30.5	18	12.3	1270	29.9
Number of family members							<0.001
One	856	20.9	58	39.7	914	21.5
Two	1233	30.1	45	30.8	1278	30.1
Three	767	18.7	21	14.4	788	18.6
Four or more	1245	30.4	22	15.1	1267	29.8
Economically active family member†							<0.001
None	1001	24.4	70	47.9	1071	25.2
One	1882	45.9	52	35.6	1934	45.5
Two or more	1218	29.7	24	16.4	1242	29.2
Disabled person among family members‡
Presence	712	17.4	33	22.6	745	17.5
Aged over 65, among family members							0.062
Presence	2094	51.1	86	58.9	2180	51.3
Total	4101	96.6	146	3.4	4247	100.0

*“Regular medication more than 3 months” indicated the presence of on-going chronic diseases.
†The variable of economically active family members is defined as someone who worked regularly and received salary during the past 1 year.
‡Disabled person means those who are officially qualified by doctors as being disabled, using the standard of the national guideline.
CESD-11, Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale.