To ask or not to ask? Opinions of pediatric medical inpatients about suicide risk screening in the hospital.

As part of a larger instrument validation study, 200 pediatric medical inpatients (ages 10-21 years) were screened for suicide risk. Participants completed demographic self-report forms and were asked their opinions about suicide risk screening. Patient responses were recorded verbatim by trained research social workers. Qualitative data was analyzed using thematic analysis. The majority of youth screened for suicide risk on medical inpatient units were supportive of suicide risk screening. Opinion data have the potential to inform screening practices and assure clinicians that suicide risk screening will be acceptable to pediatric patients and their parents. Given the lack of screening in these patients’ past experiences, the medical setting is a unique opportunity to capture youth at risk for suicide.