Detecting Suicide Risk in a Pediatric Emergency Department: Development of a Brief Screening Tool

The authors sought to develop a brief screening tool that will allow emergency department staff to rapidly & accurately detect suicide risk in child & adolescent patients. A 14-item screening survey, the Risk of Suicide Questionnaire, was developed & administered to all pediatric mental health patients on admission to the emergency department. All patients were also administered the 30-item Suicide Ideation Questionnaire by a mental health clinician. Four of the items from the Risk of Suicide Questionnaire had a sensitivity of 0.98 & a negative predictive value of 0.97. It is concluded that a brief 4-item screening tool can be used by non-mental health clinicians to accurately detect suicidality in children & adolescents who present to an emergency department. (38 refs)