Development of a Minimum Data Set (MDS) for the National Suicide Registry, India

Suicide is a major health concern around the globe, including India. Identifying various risk factors and confirming individual cases of is challenging to investigating agencies and clinicians. This study was carried out with the intention of preparing a standardized minimum data set (MDS) for the National Suicide Registry of India (NSRI) as recommended by the National Suicide Prevention Strategy (NSPS) for framing policy decisions on suicide.

This study was conducted in three steps: a literature review to identify data elements, appointing experts and finalization of MDS items and content validation by two rounds of Delphi. The data elements were validated by calculating content validity index (I-CVI) and content validity ratio (CVR).

After literature review, the extracted data elements were divided into eight headings and forwarded to multidisciplinary experts. A total of 28 experts participated in this study. A total of 176 data elements were evaluated, out of which 169 data elements were finalized based upon I-CVI and CVR calculation and used for standardizing this MDS.

A standardized MDS has been developed for NSRI. This MDS will facilitate uniform data collection on suicides across the country, addressing existing limitations in data collection. By analyzing data gathered through the MDS, policymakers can inform the NSPS, ultimately helping to reduce suicide rates in India.