Abstract
IntroductionSuicide is an issue of great severity in public health worldwide. This study aimed to investigate which instruments are most frequently used by healthcare professionals to assess suicide risk and how accessible such instruments are, as well as to determine the scope of suicide phenomena.MethodA systematic review was performed using the following Boolean searches: “scale AND suicide,” “evaluation AND suicide,” “questionnaire AND suicide.” The articles retrieved were read and selected by two independent researchers – any discrepancies were addressed by a third researcher.ResultsFrom a total number of 206 articles, 20 instruments were identified as being currently used to assess suicide risk. The two most common were the Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation (BSI) and The Columbia – Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS).ConclusionEven though the two scales (BSI and C-SSRS) are the most frequently mentioned and used by healthcare professionals to assess suicide risk, both instruments present breaches in their structure and there is not yet a single instrument considered to be the gold standard. As a future perspective, there is the urgency of developing a new tool that can widely and completely assess all psychopathological aspects of suicidality.
Highlights
Suicide is an issue of great severity in public health worldwide
Among the 206 articles included in the study, we identified 20 instruments used by healthcare professionals to assess and prevent suicide risk
From the 20 instruments found to be used by healthcare professionals in the detection and assessment of suicide risk in the articles resulting from our PubMed database search, the Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation (BSI) and the Columbia – Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) were the two most frequently mentioned as a standard tool for the clinical evaluation of individuals that are or are not at risk of suicide
Summary
Suicide is an issue of great severity in public health worldwide. This study aimed to investigate which instruments are most frequently used by healthcare professionals to assess suicide risk and how accessible such instruments are, as well as to determine the scope of suicide phenomena. Conclusion: Even though the two scales (BSI and C-SSRS) are the most frequently mentioned and used by healthcare professionals to assess suicide risk, both instruments present breaches in their structure and there is not yet a single instrument considered to be the gold standard. Due to the severity of this topic, the WHO has been publishing guide books for healthcare professionals in order to allow them to create strategies to help prevent suicide These materials have been addressed to medical practitioners, media professionals, as well as teachers and other educators.[5] In 2006, the Brazilian Ministry of Health developed a suicide preventive guide book for healthcare professionals in which information about suicide was made available, as well as instructions to help these professionals identify and deal with individuals at imminent risk of suicide.[6] In 2014, the Brazilian Psychiatric Association and the Federal Council of Medicine worked together to develop and publish the APRS | CC-BY
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