Pediatric Suicide Screening: A Review of the Evidence

Suicide rates are increasing for youths and suicide is the second leading cause of death for 10-24 year olds. This evidence-based practice project critically reviews literature regarding the effectiveness of pediatric suicide screening.

A literature search was guided by the following question: In pediatric patients, does suicide screening at every health encounter compared to an annual screen increase clinician identification of patients at-risk. Ten articles met inclusion criteria and were critically appraised and synthesized.

Youths had high rates of suicidal ideation (SI), anxiety, and depression. Pediatric universal suicide screening identified SI in youths with both psychiatric and non-psychiatric medical complaints. Patients with chronic health conditions reported higher rates of mental health symptoms and SI. A specific suicide screening instrument should be used as general mental health screens likely miss youths at-risk for SI. The Ask Suicide-Screening Questions tool is an easy to use and highly sensitive instrument for detecting suicide risk in youths.

Many youths that screen positive for SI do not have known mental health concerns and would have been missed if not asked directly. Universal screening for SI identifies at-risk youth and allows nurses and other providers to intervene. The need for universal screening across pediatric health care settings using brief, validated screening tools is paramount.

Nurses working in pediatric settings should champion universal screening for SI. Unit-based quality improvement projects using the Plan-Do-Study-Act change cycle provides a model for instituting universal screening for SI.