Description

The Suicide Screening Questions (SSQ-4) is a brief screening tool used to detect suicidal ideation in individuals who may be at risk of suicide. It consists of 4 questions related to thoughts, intentions, or previous suicide attempts. The SSQ-4 can be utilized in various clinical settings for the rapid assessment of suicide risk.

Analysis and Use of Data

Purpose:Early Detection: The SSQ-4 aims to promptly identify individuals with suicidal ideation, providing clinicians with critical information to decide if further evaluation or intervention is needed.

Suicide Prevention: The primary goal of using this tool is to prevent suicidal behaviors through early intervention.

Use of Data:Responses to the questions are used for immediate assessment of suicide risk. The data help guide the subsequent therapeutic process or intervention depending on the identified risk level.

Scoring

The SSQ-4 is scored based on the individual’s responses to the 4 questions. If the person answers “yes” to any of the questions, there may be a potential risk of suicide, and further evaluation by a specialist is recommended. The SSQ-4 enables professionals to act swiftly in situations requiring immediate attention.

Bibliography

Horowitz, L. M., Bridge, J. A., Pao, M., & Boudreaux, E. D. (2014). Screening youth for suicide risk in medical settings: Time to ask questions. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 47(3 Suppl 2), S170-S175.

Ballard, E. D., Stanley, I. H., Horowitz, L. M., Pao, M., Cannon, E. A., & Bridge, J. A. (2017). Suicide risk screening in healthcare settings: Identifying youth at risk. Current Psychiatry Reports, 19(11), 100.

Horowitz, L. M., Snyder, D., Ludi, E., Rosenstein, D. L., Pao, M., & Bridge, J. A. (2013). Ask suicide-screening questions to everyone in medical settings: The asQ’em quality improvement project. Psychosomatics, 54(3), 239-247.