Session: Suicide Screening for Youths in the Pediatric Emergency Department (Society for Prevention Research 22nd Annual Meeting)

Suicide remains a leading cause of death for youth worldwide. Early identification and treatment of patients at elevated risk of suicide is a key suicide prevention strategy; yet high-risk patients are often not recognized by healthcare providers. Recent studies show that the majority of individuals who die by suicide have had contact with a healthcare provider within three months prior to their death; nearly 40% have had a recent visit to an ED. Whereas medical visits afford clinicians an opportunity to identify and refer patients at risk for suicide, unfortunately, young people often present solely with somatic complaints and infrequently discuss suicidal thoughts and plans unless asked directly.

The ED is a promising venue for identifying young people at risk for suicide. In the United States, ED clinicians are often the sole connection with the healthcare system for millions of youth and their families; they are uniquely positioned to provide screening, a critical process for suicide prevention.  Nevertheless, evidence-based guidelines for screening do not exist, highlighting the significance and timeliness of research aimed at improving care for patients in the ED who are identified as being at risk for suicidal behavior.

The goal of this symposium is to discuss suicide screening for medical patients in pediatric EDs.  We will present on a newly developed brief suicide screening instrument for the pediatric ED, the Ask Suicide-Screening Questions (ASQ). The ASQ is a 4-question screening instrument with high sensitivity, specificity and negative predictive value that can guide non-psychiatric clinicians in the identification of suicide risk for patients presenting to pediatric EDs. Topics of feasibility, patient opinions, repeat ED visits post-screening and access to firearms for youth at risk for suicide will be discussed.