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Suicide Risk Prediction: A New Approach *
Author(s) -
Greist John H.,
Gustafson David H.,
Stauss Fred F.,
Rowse Glen L.,
Laughren Thomas P.,
Chiles John A.
Publication year - 1974
Publication title -
suicide and life‐threatening behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.544
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1943-278X
pISSN - 0363-0234
DOI - 10.1111/j.1943-278x.1974.tb00542.x
Subject(s) - interview , suicide prevention , poison control , human factors and ergonomics , injury prevention , bayes' theorem , computer program , occupational safety and health , medical emergency , computer science , psychology , medicine , artificial intelligence , bayesian probability , pathology , political science , law , operating system
A computer program that collects suicide risk factors by computer interview from persons with thoughts of suicide and processes the data to provide risk predictions has been written and pilot tested. Patient acceptance of the interviewing technique was good; more than half of the patients interviewed preferred the computer to a doctor as an interviewer. Bayes Theorem is used to process the data collected against a subjective data base. In a retrospective study comparing risk predictions made by the computer with predictions by experienced clinicians, the computer was more accurate in predicting suicide attempters ( p .01) and slightly less accurate in predicting nonattempters. The program is economical, can be used wherever a telephone and a computer terminal are available, and is readily and uniformly modified to include new data.