Table 1.

Suicide Algorithms in 6 Randomized Clinical Effectiveness Trials for Depression in Medical Populations (N = 3,523 subjects)

	ARTIST31	IMPACT32	RESPECT33	AIM34	SCAMP35	INCPAD36
Characteristic
Patients, n	573	1,801	404	186	250	309
No. of practices	37	18	60	4	11	16
Clinical setting	Primary care	Primary care	Primary care	Neurology	Primary care	Oncology
Population	All patients	Geriatric	All patients	Poststroke	Chronic pain	Cancer
Excluded if suicidala	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Follow-up, mo	9	24	6	9	12	12
Intervention group	SSRI antidepressant	Collaborative care	Collaborative care	Collaborative care	Collaborative care	Collaborative care
Control group	SSRI comparator	Usual care	Usual care	Attention control	Usual care	Usual care
Randomization unit	Patient	Patient	Practice	Patient	Patient	Patient
No. of algorithm itemsb	3–8	3	10–16	4–10	6–14	5–13
p4 Screener question
Past attempts	+	+	+	+	+	+
Plan	+	+	+	+	+	+
Probability	+		+	+	+	+
Preventive factors			+	+	+	+
Other questionsb
Risk factors
Owns gun				+	+	+
Stockpiles pills				+	+	+
Lives alone				+	+	+
Impulsive			+		+	+
Hopeless			+		+	+
Uses alcohol	+			+
Uses drugs	+
When attempt is likely to occur	+			+
Recency of plan			+
Told someone of suicidal ideation			+

^aPatients deemed to be actively suicidal (threshold varied with trial) on eligibility interview were not enrolled but were referred for immediate care.

^bNumber of items (questions) asked in some algorithms could vary depending on positive responses and branching points in the algorithm.

Abbreviations: AIM = Activate-Initiate-Monitor, ARTIST = A Randomized Trial Investigating SSRI Treatment, IMPACT = Improving Mood—Promoting Access to Collaborative Treatment, INCPAD = Indiana Cancer Pain and Depression, RESPECT = Re-Engineering Systems in Primary Care Treatment of Depression, SCAMP = Stepped Care for Affective Disorders and Musculoskeletal Pain.

Symbol: + = item was asked as part of the suicide algorithm for that particular trial.