Talk to the Veterans Crisis Line now
U.S. flag
An official website of the United States government

VA Health Systems Research

Go to the VA ORD website
Go to the QUERI website

HSR&D Citation Abstract

Search | Search by Center | Search by Source | Keywords in Title

Primary care clinician responses to positive suicidal ideation risk assessments in veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Dobscha SK, Denneson LM, Kovas AE, Corson K, Helmer DA, Bair MJ. Primary care clinician responses to positive suicidal ideation risk assessments in veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. General hospital psychiatry. 2014 May 1; 36(3):310-7.

Dimensions for VA is a web-based tool available to VA staff that enables detailed searches of published research and research projects.

If you have VA-Intranet access, click here for more information vaww.hsrd.research.va.gov/dimensions/

VA staff not currently on the VA network can access Dimensions by registering for an account using their VA email address.
   Search Dimensions for VA for this citation
* Don't have VA-internal network access or a VA email address? Try searching the free-to-the-public version of Dimensions



Abstract:

OBJECTIVE: To examine primary care clinician actions following positive suicide risk assessments administered to Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) veterans. METHODS: We identified OEF/OIF veterans with positive templated suicide risk assessments administered in primary care settings of three Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Centers. National VA datasets and manual record review were used to identify and code clinician discussions and actions following positive assessments. Bivariate analyses were used to examine relationships between patient characteristics and discussions of firearms access and alcohol/drug use. RESULTS: Primary care clinicians documented awareness of suicide risk assessment results for 157 of 199 (79%) patients with positive assessments. Most patients were assessed for mental health conditions and referred for mental health follow-up. Clinicians documented discussions about firearms access for only 15% of patients. Among patients whose clinicians assessed for substance abuse, 34% received recommendations to reduce alcohol or drug use. Depression diagnoses and suicidal ideation/behavior severity were significantly associated with firearms access discussions, while patient sex, military service branch, and substance abuse diagnoses were significantly associated with recommendations to reduce substance use. CONCLUSION: Greater efforts are needed to understand barriers to clinicians' assessing, documenting and counseling once suicidal ideation is detected, and to develop training programs and systems changes to address these barriers.





Questions about the HSR website? Email the Web Team

Any health information on this website is strictly for informational purposes and is not intended as medical advice. It should not be used to diagnose or treat any condition.