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Background: Death thoughts and wishes occur frequently among older people. In different European countries estimates of 10%-20% have been found., Aims: To determine the prevalence and associated factors of death thoughts and wishes among older people in The Netherlands., Methods: In The Netherlands 1794 people (58-98 years) were interviewed in 2005/2006 (Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam)., Results: 81.3% reported never having death thoughts/wishes; 15.3% reported having had such thoughts/wishes; 3.4% reported currently having a wish to die and/or a weakened wish to continue living. Of those with a current wish to die, 67% had depressive symptoms (vs. 32% of people with death thoughts/wishes ever and 9% of people who never had had death thoughts/wishes), and 20% suffered from a depressive disorder (vs. 5% if death thoughts/wishes ever; 0.3% if never death thoughts/wishes). In a multivariate analysis, a current wish to die was associated with having depressive symptoms, a depressive disorder, lower perceived mastery, financial problems, loneliness, small network, involuntary urine loss, being divorced, and having a speech impediment., Conclusions: Practical implications for health-care professionals are that they should be aware that in certain situations older people are more likely to develop a wish to die, and that a wish to die does not necessarily mean that someone has a depressive disorder. Nevertheless, it should serve as a trigger to investigate and to treat depression if present.

Objective: Prayer is generally recognized as an important aspect of religiousness. Relatively few empiric studies examined the relation between prayer and depressive symptoms in later life, and findings so far are mixed., Method: Respondents, aged 60-91 years, participated in the third (N = 1,702) and fourth (N = 1,346) assessment cycles, with three-year intervals, of the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam. Data were collected on frequency of prayer, perceived meaningfulness of prayer, religious affiliation, church attendance, salience of religion, demographics, and health variables. Depressive symptoms were assessed with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale., Results: In the total sample, there was no significant association between frequency of prayer and depressive symptoms. Among those who were not religiously affiliated, prayer was associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms. The results were particularly pronounced among nonaffiliated widowed respondents; odds ratio for praying daily associated with having Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale scores of 16 and higher amounted to 3.59 (99% confidence interval: 1.01-11.79). At three-year follow up, prayer did not predict change of depressive symptoms., Conclusions: As secularization in Western Europe progresses, the current results suggest that clinical exploration of private religiousness among older patients remains relevant, also among people who seem to be less religious.

Objective: To describe the lifestyle of men and women aged 55-64 years in The Netherlands in 2002/'03 and compare it with the lifestyle of people of the same age in 1992/'93., Design: Descriptive., Method: Data were used from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam. The study comprised two randomly selected samples from local municipal registers in 1992/'93 (n = 966) and 2002/'03 (n = 1002), stratified according to sex, age and expected 5-year survival. Participants were from 11 municipalities in the west, northeast and south of The Netherlands. Data were collected from interviews, measurements and a written questionnaire. The response was 62% in 1992/'93 and 57% in 2002/'03., Results: In 1992/'93, 9.5% of the men and 20.5% of the women were obese. Ten years later these percentages were 18.4 and 27.5. The percentage of current smokers was stable over time and included one-third of men and one-quarter of women. More people used alcohol in 2002/'03; excessive alcohol use was found in 15.7% of the men (11.7% in 1992/'93) and 19.5% of the women (11.1% in 1992/'93). The energy expended through walking, bicycling, household activities and sports was one-fifth less in 2002/'03., Conclusion: The lifestyle of people aged 55-64 years in The Netherlands was less healthy in 2002/'03 than in 1992/'93. Because positive changes in lifestyle can reduce the risk of chronic diseases, functional limitations and early death, more attention to healthy living is necessary in this age group.