Can we usefully stratify patients according to suicide risk?

How accurate are suicide risk prediction models? Asking the right questions for clinical practice

“…It has also been argued that the process of stratifying risk detracts from undertaking a holistic, therapeutic assessment of needs. 15 These two do not have to be mutually exclusive, and it is possible to consider the situation where a tool acts as an adjunct or aid for clinical decision-making that can improve efficiency and consistency, 16 and anchor assessments in an evidence base, thus giving clinicians greater confidence and time to focus on developing an individualised treatment plan, importantly shifting the focus away from lengthy risk assessments and on to risk management. This will form part of the process of translating advances in data science to clinical benefit.…”

Characteristics of Lifeline, Crisis Line, Service Users Who Have Died by Suicide

“…The identification of factors pertinent to suicide risk and behavior remains a crucial research objective in assisting formulation of appropriate, innovative, and cost‐effective intervention strategies and improving engagement with services for this at‐risk group. The ability to accurately predict who will die by suicide continues to elude us and the variables identified should not be used to determine which clients should receive follow‐up services (Large, Ryan, Carter, & Kapur, ) . Services such as crisis lines and follow‐up services are seen as important in efforts to reduce the rates of suicide (Hogan & Grumet, ), and the current findings support the need for continued encouragement of users to engage with services.…”

What Is “High Risk” and What Are We Actually Supposed to Do About It?

“…The first is that these risk determinations likely have painfully low sensitivity, the largest drawback of which is that many youth will incorrectly be determined to be "low risk" and may not receive the attention that they need or the care that they deserve. 7 The second is that although the motivation of the regulation is no doubt to help ensure access to services, treatment programs that meaningfully reduce suicide risk are lacking. Another Aspirational Goal of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention's Research Prioritization Task Force is access to affordable and effective care.…”