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Published on: August 8, 2019
A Pilot Investigation of the Operationalized Predicaments of Suicide (OPS) Framework
Saxby Pridmore1, Pim Kuipers, Abdul Majeed Zainab
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 27, GPO Hobart, 7001, Tasmania.
Background:
Suicide may be conceptualized as an escape from intolerable predicaments, in particular, mental illness and environmental stressors. The operationalized predicaments of suicide (OPS) is a 4 category framework designed to assist in the classification of suicide. The objective was to examine whether this framework is potentially useful.
Methods:
18 psychiatrists from 6 different countries examined 12 written coroners' reports of suicide and rated each report according to the OPS. 16 of these raters then also completed a qualitative questionnaire regarding the framework.
Results:
In 89.8% of cases the raters where able to make a decision regarding the drivers which led to the suicides. The respondents displayed modest inter-rater correlation (Kappa = 0.42; P < 0.0001). In the qualitative section, respondents supported the face validity of OPS and considered it potentially useful. Feedback allowed improved wording of the OPS instructions.
Conclusion:
The OPS has potential as a useful framework. The OPS instructions have been improved and further studies are justified.
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