Original Research J Clin Psychiatry March 2026

Comparing Risk Prediction for Suicide Attempts and Deaths After Emergency Department Visits for Individuals With Mental Health Disorders

Full Article Read the complete peer-reviewed article in J Clin Psychiatry. Clinical Summary Emergency clinicians must make disposition decisions for patients with mental health disorders even though suicide risk after discharge is high and many patients who later die by suicide are not identified during the ED visit. This study clarifies which factors better predict nonfatal versus fatal suicidal events within 180 days and whether a model trained on nonfatal events can still identify patients at risk for suicide death. FAQ How well did this study predict suicide attempts and suicide deaths after an emergency department visit for a mental health disorder?

Key Takeaways In this cohort of 872,627 ED episodes, suicidal events within 180 days were uncommon but clinically significant, with 4,525 nonfatal and 434 fatal events, underscoring the challenge of identifying a rare outcome while making real-time disposition decisions. Clinical Guide How should clinicians distinguish short-term risk for nonfatal versus fatal suicidal events after an ED visit for a mental health disorder? Clinical Guide How can clinicians use a model trained on nonfatal suicidal events to help identify suicide death risk after an ED mental health visit?