Screening for suicide risk among youths with a psychotic disorder in a pediatric emergency department

National Patient Safety Goal 15.01.01 requires all Joint Commission–accredited organizations to screen patients treated for behavioral health conditions for suicide risk. However, little is known about the ability of screening tools to identify suicide risk among youths with psychotic disorders. As part of this quality improvement initiative, youths in a pediatric emergency department with psychotic disorder diagnoses (N=87) were screened with the Ask Suicide-Screening Questions. Almost half (48%, N=42) screened positive. Most positive screens (62%, N=26) were not detected through treatment as usual, suggesting that systematic screening improves the detection of suicide risk among youths with psychotic disorders.