Suicide-related contacts--experience in general practice

We examined the rate of suicide-related contacts (SRCs) in general practice between April 1998 and March 2013. We defined an SRC as a general practitioner (GP)-patient encounter where suicide ideation or attempt (International Classification of Primary Care 2nd edn, code P77) was recorded as either a problem under management or a patient's reason for encounter (RFE). Between 1998 and 2013, 14 793 GPs participated in BEACH (Bettering the Evaluation and Care of Health) and recorded details of 1 479 300 encounters with patients. There were 406 SRC encounters. Most of these were identified through the patient's RFE and not by the GP's label of a problem managed at the encounter. Depression was the most frequent problem managed at encounters where suicidal ideation or attempt was a patient's RFE. This suggests that suicide is often subsumed in the 'depression' label and that we are only identifying a subset of encounters with patients who are dealing with suicidal thoughts.