A Randomized Clinical Trial of Attempted Suicide Short Intervention Program versus Crisis Counseling in Preventing Repeat Suicide Attempts: A Two-Year Follow-Up Study

Abstract

Introduction: The Attempted Suicide Short Intervention Program (ASSIP) is a brief psychotherapeutic intervention, and a pivotal study found it to be remarkably effective in reducing repeat suicide attempts. Objective: To compare the effectiveness of ASSIP to crisis counseling (CC) in a randomized clinical trial (ISRCTN13464512). Methods: Adult patients receiving treatment for a suicide attempt in a Helsinki City general hospital emergency room in 2016–2017 were eligible to participate. We excluded psychotic or likely non-adherent substance-abusing or substance-dependent patients. Eligible patients (n = 239) were randomly allocated to one of two interventions. (a) ASSIP comprised three visits, including a videotaped first visit, a case formulation, and an individualized safety plan, plus letters from the therapist every 3 months for 1 year, and then, every 6 months for the next year. (b) CC typically involved 2–5 (median 3) face-to-face individual sessions. In addition, all participants received their usual treatment. One and 2 years after baseline, information related to participants’ suicidal thoughts and attempts, and psychiatric treatment received was collected via telephone and from medical and psychiatric records. Results: Among randomized patients, two-thirds initiated either ASSIP (n = 89) or CC (n = 72), with 73 (82%) completing ASSIP and 58 (81%) CC. The proportion of patients who attempted suicide during the 2-year follow-up did not differ significantly between ASSIP and CC (29.2% [26/89] vs. 35.2% [25/71], OR 0.755 [95% Cl 0.379–1.504]). Conclusions: We found no difference in the effectiveness of the two brief interventions to prevent repeat suicide attempts.