Clinical trial NCT01544127: Motivational Interviewing to Prevent Suicide in High Risk Veterans
Official title: Motivational Interviewing to Prevent Suicide in High Risk Veterans
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Suicidal Ideation
Treatment Engagement
Keywords: Veterans
Motivational Interviewing
Inpatients
Suicide, Attempted
Lead sponsor: VA Office of Research and Development
Sponsor class: FED
First posted: 2012-03-05
Enrollment: 132
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: The purpose of study is to test the efficacy of an adaptation of Motivational Interviewing to Address Suicidal Ideation (MI-SI) on the severity of suicidal ideation in psychiatrically hospitalized Veterans at high risk for suicide.

Detailed description: Veterans who receive health care from the VA are at elevated risk for suicide, and the number of Veterans at high risk may be growing. Although the months following discharge from psychiatric hospitalization are a period of acute risk for Veterans, there is a dearth of empirically supported treatments tailored to psychiatric inpatients and no studies examining treatments for psychiatrically hospitalized Veterans. This randomized controlled trial will test the efficacy of an adaptation of Motivational Interviewing to Address Suicidal Ideation (MI-SI) on the severity of suicidal ideation in psychiatrically hospitalized Veterans at high risk for suicide. Participants will be recruited from the Acute Psychiatric Inpatient Unit at the Syracuse VA Medical Center. To meet high-risk criteria, Veterans must score over two on the Scale for Suicidal Ideation (SSI), which is prospectively predictive of death by suicide. Participants will complete a screening assessment to confirm eligibility and a baseline assessment of risk factors for suicide. They will be randomized to receive Motivational Interviewing to Address Suicidal Ideation (MI-SI) or a revised version (MI-SI-R) plus treatment as usual (TAU), or TAU alone. The MI-SI groups will receive two sessions of MI-SI during hospitalization and one telephone booster session after discharge. Participants in all conditions will be asked to complete telephone follow-up interviews at 1, 3, and 6 months after discharge. Change in the severity of suicidal ideation will be measured using the SSI.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Veteran status,
* admitted to psychiatric inpatient unit,
* age 18 and over,
* English speaking,
* able to understand the study and provide informed consent,
* clinically cleared to participate by unit staff,
* receive health care from a VHA facility in upstate New York
* at increased risk for suicide (Scale for Suicidal Ideation \[SSI\] \> 2)

Exclusion Criteria:

* current psychosis,
* current mania,
* dementia,
* prisoner status,
* being inaccessible
* being discharged from the unit less than 48 hours after being identified by study staff

Primary outcomes:
measure: Number of Participants With Suicidal Ideation
timeFrame: 6 months
measure: Severity of Suicidal Ideation Among Those With It
timeFrame: 6 months
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Number of Participants With Two Outpatient Mental Health or Substance Treatment Sessions
timeFrame: 1 month
Other outcomes:
measure: Number of Participants With a Suicide Attempt
timeFrame: 1, 3, and 6 months
Locations:
city: Syracuse
country: United States
facility: Syracuse VA Medical Center, Syracuse, NY
state: New York
Study officials:
affiliation: Syracuse VA Medical Center, Syracuse, NY
name: Peter C. Britton, PhD MS
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Britton PC, Conner KR, Chapman BP, Maisto SA. Motivational Interviewing to Address Suicidal Ideation: A Randomized Controlled Trial in Veterans. Suicide Life Threat Behav. 2020 Feb;50(1):233-248. doi: 10.1111/sltb.12581. Epub 2019 Aug 8.