Suicide Risk Assessment in the VHA

The recent article in The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry “Suicide Risk Assessment Received Prior to Suicide Death by Veterans Health Administration Patients with a History of Depression” revealed several important findings. Among Veterans Health Administration (VHA) patients with a history of depression from 1999 to 2004, 74% of patients who died by suicide had received an assessment of suicidal ideation in the year prior to suicide,1 and this rate was achieved prior to the major initiatives that VHA has put in place over the last 7 years emphasizing suicide risk assessment and prevention. However, only 30% of patients with depression or a history of depression received such an assessment at a time that it might have been especially important—the last health care visit. Furthermore, of those assessed, 85% denied suicidal ideation when asked, and a similar proportion (>70%) denied suicidal ideation even when asked within 7 days of their impending suicide death. Read article here.