The Importance of Screening Preteens for Suicide Risk in the Emergency Department
To describe the prevalence of screening positive for suicide risk in a sample of 10- to 12-year-olds presenting to the emergency department (ED). Patients presenting to the ED were administered a battery of measures, including the Ask Suicide-Screening Questions and the criterion-standard Suicidal I...
Saved in:
Published in | Hospital pediatrics Vol. 9; no. 4; p. 305 |
---|---|
Main Authors | , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
United States
01.04.2019
|
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get more information |
Cover
Loading…
Summary: | To describe the prevalence of screening positive for suicide risk in a sample of 10- to 12-year-olds presenting to the emergency department (ED).
Patients presenting to the ED were administered a battery of measures, including the Ask Suicide-Screening Questions and the criterion-standard Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire. Answering affirmatively to any of the 4 Ask Suicide-Screening Questions and/or scoring above the Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire cutoff score was considered a positive screen result for suicide risk.
The sample included 79 preteen patients. The overall positive screen result rate was 29.1% (23 of 79). More than half (54.1%) of patients presenting with psychiatric chief complaints screened positive for suicide risk, and 7.1% of preteens presenting with chief medical complaints screened positive. Of preteens, 17.7% (14 of 79) reported previous suicidal behavior.
Preteens think about suicide and engage in suicidal behavior at rates that warrant further study. Notably, 7% of preteens presenting with chief medical complaints screened positive, highlighting the importance of screening all preteen patients as young as 10 years old for suicide risk in the ED. |
---|---|
ISSN: | 2154-1671 |
DOI: | 10.1542/hpeds.2018-0154 |