Health Services Research & Development

• Ilgen M. Pain, Opioids, and Suicide Mortality in the United States. Annals of internal medicine. 2018 Oct 2; 169(7):498-499.
• Hartmann CW. Rational Suicide in Older Adults: Not an Ageist Concept by Default. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 2018 Aug 10; 66(8):1648.
• Raju Sagiraju HK, Wang CP, Amuan ME, Van Cott AC, Altalib HH, Pugh MJV. Antiepileptic drugs and suicide-related behavior: Is it the drug or comorbidity? Neurology. Clinical practice. 2018 Aug 1; 8(4):331-339.
• Kimbrel NA, Garrett ME, Dennis MF, VA Mid-Atlantic Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center Workgroup, Hauser MA, Ashley-Koch AE, Beckham JC. A genome-wide association study of suicide attempts and suicidal ideation in U.S. military veterans. Psychiatry Research. 2018 Jul 17; 269:64-69.
• Adkisson K, Cunningham KC, Dedert EA, Dennis MF, Calhoun PS, Elbogen EB, Beckham JC, Kimbrel NA. Cannabis Use Disorder and Post-Deployment Suicide Attempts in Iraq/Afghanistan-Era Veterans. Archives of suicide research : official journal of the International Academy for Suicide Research. 2018 Jun 28; 1-18.

» View more Citations

• Medical Records Flag for Suicide Risk Increases VA Healthcare Visits among Veterans with Substance Use Disorder
  VA has identified suicide prevention as a top priority and established policies to include high-risk suicide patient record flags (PRFs) in the electronic medical record to alert providers of patient risk and increase healthcare contacts. This study sought to identify predictors of new PRFs and to describe healthcare use before and after PRF initiation among VA patients who had received a substanc...
  
  Date: June 8, 2018
• Evaluating Care Coordination Program for Pregnant Veterans
  The VA Maternity Care Coordinator Telephone Care Program (MCC-TCP) was created to support MCCs and includes outlines to guide up to eight calls with Veterans on topics such as VA maternity care benefits, chronic health problems, substance use cessation, and depression and suicide screening. Investigators evaluated the program and assessed its feasibility, as well as facilitators and barriers to it...
  
  Date: May 23, 2018
• Medical Record Alert Associated with Reduced Opioid and Benzodiazepine Co-prescribing
  This implementation project evaluated the effectiveness of an advanced medication alert designed to reduce opioid and benzodiazepine co-prescribing among Veterans with high-risk conditions (substance use disorder, sleep apnea, suicide risk, and age =65) at one VA healthcare system (VA Puget Sound). Findings showed that the proportions of patients with concurrent prescriptions decreased significant...
  
  Date: December 28, 2017
• Systematic Review: Patient Outcomes in Dose Reduction or Discontinuation of Long-term Opioid Therapy Suggest Utility of Multimodal Care
  Investigators examined the evidence on the effectiveness of strategies to reduce or discontinue long-term opioid therapy (LTOT) prescribed for chronic pain – and the effect of dose reduction or discontinuation on important patient outcomes, including pain severity and pain-related function. Findings showed that there are multiple strategies to reduce or discontinue long-term opioid treatment for c...
  
  Date: July 18, 2017
• Higher Risk of Suicidal Ideation and Suicidal Self-Directed Violence following Discontinuation of Long-term Opioid Therapy
  The primary objective of this study was to identify predictors of suicidal ideation (SI) and non-fatal suicidal self-directed violence (SSV) following clinician-initiated discontinuation of long-term opioid therapy. Findings showed that a substantial proportion of Veterans with substance use disorder diagnoses and similar matched patients experienced suicidal ideation or suicidal self-directed vio...
  
  Date: July 1, 2017

» View more Publication Briefs

» View more Studies

• Forum Spring 2018: Suicide Prevention
  ...Modeling in the Fight Against Veteran Suicide VA Suicide Prevention: From Risk Factors to At-Risk Veterans Concerning Trends in Suicide Among...
  
  
• Management Briefs eBrief-no108 - Suicide Prevention in Veterans
  ...level suicide prevention interventions and individual therapies in active military populations reduced suicide attempts and suicide. Suicide rates...
  
  
• Management Briefs eBrief-no50 - Suicide Prevention Interventions and Referral/Follow-up
  ...Nominated Support Team interventions combined with usual care did not significantly reduce risk of suicide attempts or death in suicidal adolescents....
  
  
• Suicide Risk Factors and Risk Assessment Tools: A Systematic Review
  ...questions addressed in this report were: See also Cyber Seminar on Suicide Prevention Interventions and Suicide Risk Factors and Risk Assessment...
  
  
• Systematic Review of Suicide Prevention in Veterans
  ...and adverse effects of suicide prevention interventions in reducing rates of suicide and other suicidal self-directed violence in Veterans and...
  
  

» View more Publications

» View more Cyberseminars

Videos

• Sleep Disorder Treatment to Prevent Veteran Suicide 12/22/17
• Mental Health Treatment Adherence 03/07/16
• Improving Medication Safety for Veterans 11/06/15
• From War to Home: Through the Veterans Lens 05/15/15
• Bipolar Disorder 03/20/14
• Military Sexual Trauma 03/20/14
• Improving Schizophrenia Treatment 01/31/12

Podcasts

• Peer Coaching and Web-based Interventions to Help Veterans with Serious Mental Illness Better Manage Their Weight 06/26/2018
• Neurocognitive Risk Factors and Suicide Prevention 07/19/2017

Other Resources

• Visit the VA Office of Mental Health Services’ patient information page on suicide prevention.
• Access the VA's 2005-2016 National Suicide Data Report
• Visit the VA’s Center of Excellence for Suicide Prevention.
• Visit the VA's Office of Research & Development healthcare topic overview section to learn more about suicide prevention research in all of VA’s research divisions.
• HSR&D Suicide Prevention Research Roadmap: Transition to Veteran Status