Feasibility of screening patients with nonpsychiatric complaints for suicide risk in a pediatric emergency department: a good time to talk?

OBJECTIVE: Screening children for suicide risk when they present to the emergency department (ED) with nonpsychiatric complaints could lead to better identification and treatment of high-risk youth. Before suicide screening protocols can be implemented for nonpsychiatric patients in pediatric EDs, it is essential to determine whether such efforts are feasible.

METHODS: As part of an instrument validation study, ED patients (10-21 years old) with both psychiatric and nonpsychiatric presenting complaints were recruited to take part in suicide screening. Clinically significant suicidal thoughts, as measured by the Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire, and suicidal behaviors were assessed, as well as patient opinions about suicide screening. Recruitment rates for the study as well as impact on length of stay were assessed.

RESULTS: Of the 266 patients and parents approached for the study, 159 (60%) agreed to participate. For patients entering the ED for nonpsychiatric reasons (n = 106), 5.7% (n = 6) reported previous suicidal behavior, and 5.7% (n = 6) reported clinically significant suicidal ideation. There were no significant differences for mean length of stay in the ED for nonpsychiatric patients with positive triggers and those who screened negative (means, 382 [SD, 198] and 393 [SD, 166] minutes, respectively; P = 0.80). Ninety-six percent of participants agreed that suicide screening should occur in the ED.

CONCLUSIONS: Suicide screening of nonpsychiatric patients in the ED is feasible in terms of acceptability to parents, prevalence of suicidal thoughts and behaviors, practicality to ED flow, and patient opinion. Future endeavors should address brief screening tools validated on nonpsychiatric populations.