Premium
Prevalence of suicidality in asymptomatic adolescents in the paediatric emergency department and utility of a screening tool
Author(s) -
Hopper Sandy M,
Woo Jia Wei,
Sharwood Lisa N,
Babl Franz E,
Long Elliot J
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
emergency medicine australasia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.602
H-Index - 52
eISSN - 1742-6723
pISSN - 1742-6731
DOI - 10.1111/j.1742-6723.2012.01576.x
Subject(s) - medicine , suicidal ideation , asymptomatic , emergency department , mental health , psychiatry , population , suicide prevention , poison control , occupational safety and health , pediatrics , medical emergency , environmental health , pathology
Objective Many authorities recommend screening adolescents for risk of suicide. The ED is a potential setting for such screening. The aim of this study is to explore the use of the R isk of S uicide Q uestionnaire ( RSQ ) as a screening tool for suicidality in patients who come to the ED without mental health concerns and without recent mental health history. The S uicide I deation Q uestionnaire ( SIQ ) was the comparison standard. Methods A cross‐sectional convenience sample of overtly psychiatrically asymptomatic adolescents presenting to a large paediatric ED underwent both the RSQ and SIQ . Adolescents with positive screens underwent formal assessment by mental health practitioners. Results Two hundred and one patients were identified and 110 consented to participate. One hundred participants completed both questionnaires. Twenty‐two per cent of participants had positive RSQ (95% CI 14–31%). No adolescent yielded a positive SIQ : prevalence of suicidality was 0.0% (95% CI 0.0–3.6%). No participant showed suicidal ideation on formal review. One question in the RSQ – ‘Has something very stressful happened to you in the past few weeks?’ – accounted for the majority of false positive screens. Conclusion The prevalence of suicidal ideation in asymptomatic patients presenting to this paediatric ED is very low. Using this selection method, the RSQ could not be validated, but would be unlikely to be suitable for screening this low‐risk population with a high false positive rate.