Using structured telephone follow-up assessments to improve suicide-related adverse event detection

Adverse event (AE) detection and reporting practices were compared during the first phase of the Emergency Department Safety Assessment and Follow-up Evaluation (ED-SAFE), a suicide intervention study. Data were collected using a combination of chart reviews and structured telephone follow-up assessments postenrollment. Beyond chart reviews, structured telephone follow-up assessments identified 45% of the total AEs in our study. Notably, detection of suicide attempts significantly varied by approach with 53 (18%) detected by chart review, 173 (59%) by structured telephone follow-up assessments, and 69 (23%) marked as duplicates. Findings provide support for utilizing multiple methods for more robust AE detection in suicide research.