GP Vivas · mental-health
Suicide risk assessment and safety planning — structured viva
Structured oral on suicide risk assessment and safety planning: direct asking, prediction limits, the Stanley-Brown plan with its 45% RCT signal, means restriction, post-discharge caring contacts, referral thresholds and documentation language.
On this page
Study tools
Target exams
RACGP CCEFRACGP oralsMRCGP SCA
Prompt
The examiner opens: 'A registrar says asking patients about suicide will make them suicidal, and that the risk score settles everything — correct both beliefs.' The viva branches through asking evidence, prediction limits, safety planning, means restriction and follow-up.
Stem
You are supervising a GP registrar in a coastal practice. A farmer presents with passive death wishes; his rifles sit at home. The registrar asks whether asking will plant ideas and what his risk score means.[1]
References8ShowHide
- [1]Dazzi T et al. Does asking about suicide and related behaviours induce suicidal ideation? What is the evidence? Psychological medicine, 2014.PMID 24998511
- [2]Belsher BE et al. Prediction Models for Suicide Attempts and Deaths: A Systematic Review and Simulation. JAMA psychiatry, 2019.PMID 30865249
- [3]Stanley B et al. Comparison of the Safety Planning Intervention With Follow-up vs Usual Care of Suicidal Patients Treated in the Emergency Department. JAMA psychiatry, 2018.PMID 29998307
- [4]Motto JA et al. A randomized controlled trial of postcrisis suicide prevention. Psychiatric services (Washington, D.C.), 2001.PMID 11376235
- [5]Brown GK et al. Cognitive therapy for the prevention of suicide attempts: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA, 2005.PMID 16077050
- [6]Zalsman G et al. Suicide prevention strategies revisited: 10-year systematic review. World psychiatry, 2016.PMID 27289303
- [7]Gunnell D et al. Prevention of suicide with regulations aimed at restricting access to highly hazardous pesticides: a systematic review of the international evidence. The Lancet. Global health, 2017.PMID 28807587
- [8]Hawton K et al. Long term effect of reduced pack sizes of paracetamol on poisoning deaths and liver transplant activity in England and Wales: interrupted time series analyses. BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 2013.PMID 23393081