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The following is a summary of the study “Effectiveness of Integrating Suicide Care in Primary Care: Secondary Analysis of a Stepped-Wedge, Cluster Randomized Implementation Trial,” published in October 2024 in Primary Care by Richards et al.

For a study, researchers aimed to assess the effectiveness of integrating suicide care (SC) into primary care practices for reducing suicide attempts. Suicide care integration involved depression screening, suicide risk assessment, and safety planning supported by electronic medical record (EMR) decision support.

A secondary analysis was conducted as part of a stepped-wedge, cluster-randomized trial across 19 primary care practices in Washington State. Data were drawn from over 255,000 patients in the usual care (UC) phase and more than 228,000 in the SC phase. The trial’s primary outcomes focused on documented safety planning and suicide attempts or deaths within 90 days of primary care visits.

The results indicated that safety planning increased significantly during the SC period, from 32.8 to 38.3 per 10,000 patients. Additionally, suicide attempts decreased by 25%, from 6.0 to 4.5 per 10,000 patients, suggesting that integrating suicide care in primary care settings can significantly reduce suicide attempts.

The study revealed that integrating population-based suicide care into primary care can improve patient safety outcomes, particularly by reducing suicide attempts within 90 days of a primary care visit.

Source: acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M24-0024