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TUESDAY, July 17, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Use of the Safety Planning Intervention (SPI) plus follow-up phone calls for suicidal patients presenting in the emergency department cuts suicidal behavior and increases the likelihood of outpatient mental health treatment over the next six months, according to a study published online July 11 in JAMA Psychiatry<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Barbara Stanley, Ph.D., from Columbia University in New York City, and colleagues assessed whether the SPI administered in nine Veterans Affairs emergency departments with telephone follow-up contact for suicidal patients was associated with reduced suicidal behavior and improved outpatient treatment engagement in the high-risk, six-month period following discharge.<\/p>\n
The researchers found that the 1,186 patients in the SPI+ group were less likely to engage in suicidal behavior during the six-month follow-up period (3.03 percent) versus the 454 patients receiving usual care (5.29 percent). Suicidal behaviors were cut nearly in half with SPI+ (odds ratio, 0.56; P = 0.03). Additionally, patients receiving the SPI+ had more than double the odds of attending at least one outpatient mental health visit (odds ratio, 2.06; P < 0.001).<\/p>\n
“The Safety Planning Intervention with structured follow-up telephone contact may be an effective brief suicide prevention intervention that can be implemented in emergency departments,” the authors write.<\/p>\n