Scales in Suicide Risk Assessment

Περίληψη

Introduction: Suicide and suicide attempts remain a challenge for the health system and especially for mental health
system. Suicidal behaviors are a major problem due to the mortality and the co-morbidity that can be present. Although
scales for recognizing suicidal behavior have been developed, some scales are not quite enough to predict suicidal
behavior. Aim: The purpose of this study is to present the scales in suicide risk assessment. Material and Method:
The current review examines the research findings from 39 empirical studies, which analyze the suicidal behavior and
the scales in suicide risk assessment. The following inclusion criteria were used: (a) publications only in peer-reviewed
journals, (b) original articles should be written in English, (c) provision of sufficient statistical and methodological information in order to allow replication. The research was conducted via data bases (PsycINFO, Expanded Academic,
Web of Science, PubMed). The following key-words were used: "suicide", "suicide attempts" and "scales in suicide risk
assessment". Results: Totally 16 scales in suicide risk assessment were recorded and 8 scales for suicide with their
alpha Cronbach were presented. Suicide scales have been able to identify and classify the majority of major risk factors for suicide but there are still some suicide risk factors unidentified. Conclusion: Suicide scales are useful tools for
suicidal behaviors assessment and it is beneficial to be used at the right time. However, in some cases the prediction
of suicidal behavior may be uncertain.