Linguistic Characteristics of Suicidal Patients in the Emergency Department

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The purpose of this study is to determine whether patients who have a high risk for serious suicide behavior will demonstrate a speech pattern that has a relationship to language patterns found in suicide notes.

Detailed Description
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In an average week the CCHMC Emergency Department (ED) evaluates 40 patients with suicidal behavior. Currently, there is no systematic method for assessment of suicide risk in these patients and often, emergency department staff are required to make judgments about the disposition of these patients without a full understanding of the patient's risk for another serious suicide attempt. This pilot project involves experts in child psychiatry, biomedical informatics, and emergency medicine to collect pilot data for developing a method to estimate the risk of serious suicidal behavior based on computational linguistics.

Official Title
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Linguistic Characteristics of Suicidal Patients in the ED (Emergency Department)

Conditions
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Suicide

Intervention / Treatment
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* Other: Standardized questionnaires and a ubiquitous questionnaire


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria for Suicidal Subjects: Subjects age 13 years 0 months to 17 years, 11 months old Admission to CCHMC ED, psychiatric units, or medical units with suicidal behavior or attempt The patient and legal guardian must understand the nature of the study and be able to comply with protocol requirements. The legal guardian must give written informed consent and the youth, written assent. English is spoken as the primary language in the home Inclusion Criteria for Non-Suicidal Subjects: Subjects age 13 years 0 months to 17 years, 11 months old Admission to CCHMC ED with no current or no history of suicide ideation/attempt/gesture No past or current history of a major mood disorder No history of death by suicide in first-degree relatives The patient and legal guardian must understand the nature of the study and be able to comply with protocol requirements. The legal guardian must give written informed consent and the youth, written assent. English is spoken as the primary language in the home Exclusion Criteria for Suicidal Subjects: Any serious, unstable medical illness or clinically significant abnormal laboratory assessments that would adversely impact the scientific interpretability or unduly increase the risks of the protocol Level of consciousness precludes consent and research assessments Unable to assent because of severe mental retardation or incapacitating psychosis Exclusion Criteria for Non-Suicidal Subjects: Any current or past suicide attempts Any serious, unstable medical illness or clinically significant abnormal laboratory assessments that would adversely impact the scientific interpretability or unduly increase the risks of the protocol.

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 13 Years
Maximum Age: 17 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Suicidal Subjects<br>Suicidal Subjects | Other: Standardized questionnaires and a ubiquitous questionnaire<br>* Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale, Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire,Peabody Caregiver Background Form,CCHMC Suicide History Form,and ubiquitous questionnaire(UQ ver.2011)<br>|
| Non-Suicidal Control Subjects<br>Non-Suicidal Control Subjects | Other: Standardized questionnaires and a ubiquitous questionnaire<br>* Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale, Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire,Peabody Caregiver Background Form,CCHMC Suicide History Form,and ubiquitous questionnaire(UQ ver.2011)<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Differences between questionnaire responses from adolescents with and without suicidal behavior |  | At time of questinnaire administration |