Suicide risk assessments: Which suicide risk factors psychiatric residents consider significant?

Objective Patients visiting the emergency department (ED) after a suicide attempt are generally assessed for suicide risk by psychiatric residents. Psychiatric residents’ competence in evaluating the risk posed by the patients who attempted suicide is critical to preventing suicide. Methods We investigated factors considered important by psychiatric residents when evaluating suicide risk. This study included 140 patients admitted to the ED after attempting suicide. Psychiatric residents rated patients’ severity of current and future suicide risk as low/moderate/high using the Brief Emergency Room Suicide Risk Assessment (BESRA). The association between each BESRA variable and level of suicide risk was analyzed. Results Many factors were commonly considered important in evaluating the severity of current and future suicide risk. However, the following factors were only associated with future suicide risk: female gender, having no religion, family psychiatric history, history of axis I disorders, having a will, harboring no regrets, and social isolation. Conclusion Psychiatric residents use diverse factors when assessing suicide risk. Psychiatric residents might put more emphasis on non-modifiable demographic and clinical factors, concrete evidence showing suicide determination, and social isolation to assess the risk of future suicide.