SUICIDE SCREENING IN A PRIMARY-CARE SETTING AT A VETERANS AFFAIRS MEDICAL-CENTER

Seven-hundred and three patients from a general medical outpatient cli nic at a Veterans Affairs hospital completed the SCREENER, a brief sel f-report questionnaire that screens for psychiatric disorders. The aut hors found that 7.3% of the patients had suicidal ideation. The younge r and white patients were at increased risk. The risk was increased tw elvefold in those patients with subjectively fair or poor mental healt h, sevenfold in the patients with a history of mental health treatment , and fourfold in the patients with fair or poor perceived physical he alth. When major depression was controlled for, anxiety and substance abuse disorders continued to show an association with suicidal ideatio n, The suicidal patients made more visits to their primary care physic ian. Screening patients for anxiety disorders and drug abuse, as well as depression, is a better approach for identifying suicidal ideation in primary care settings than screening for depression alone and may h elp prevent suicide and suicide attempts.