The Article in Brief

Improving Detection of Suicidal Ideation Among Depressed Patients in Primary Care

Paul A. Nutting, MD, MSPH , and colleagues

Background Past research suggests that patients often visit their primary care doctors before completing an act of suicide. It is difficult to identify suicidal patients, however, because completed suicide is relatively rare among primary care patients, and patients don’t usually volunteer that they are having suicidal thoughts. This study examines whether two approaches to improving depression care have an effect on identifying and treating patients with suicidal thoughts.

What This Study Found Two different approaches to improving care of depression among primary care patients also improves clinicians’ detection of patients with suicidal thoughts. Brief training of primary care clinicians to improve depression care can double the rate at which they initially detect suicidal patients.

Implications

• Future approaches to depression care should include a focus on preventing suicide.
• This focus includes assessing whether patients have suicidal thoughts and their level of risk for suicide, as well as treating potentially suicidal patients or referring them to mental health professionals.