Prevalence of Brief Suicidal Crisis in Psychiatric Settings

Overview

France is among the countries with one of the highest suicide rates in the world, far above those of its neighboring countries \[Wasserman et al., 2012\]. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among 15-24-year-olds, just after road traffic accidents, and the leading cause of death among 25-34-year-olds. Current models emphasize the variability of suicidal trajectories and the possible fluctuation in the duration of suicidal crises: for some individuals, the crisis evolves rapidly and explosively (brief), whereas for others, distress becomes more chronic, often in connection with underlying psychiatric disorders \[Stanley, Brodsky, and Monahan, 2023\]. In this context, the concept of a 'brief suicidal crisis' is an emerging one in psychiatry. It is characterized by an acute phase of psychological vulnerability, during which the main risk is progression to suicidal behavior, but it remains a temporary and reversible psychic crisis (lasting less than 24 hours). The crisis state is marked by a sudden inability to mobilize one's usual coping resources in the face of difficulties, making the individual highly vulnerable. Nevertheless, this concept has been little described, and a better assessment seems desirable, particularly in populations consulting a psychiatrist. Indeed, around 25% of people who die by suicide had consulted a psychiatrist in the month before their death \[Luoma et al., 2002\], yet few data are available on this topic. Primary objective is to assess the prevalence of brief suicidal crisis episodes (lasting less than 24 hours) over the past 12 months among patients attending outpatient psychiatric care and within a sample of patients from a population catchment area in the Clermont-Ferrand region.

Detailed description

Only one visit to estimate the 12-month prevalence of brief suicidal crises, defined as lasting less than 24 hours, among patients seen in outpatient psychiatric practice and in a population-based sample from the Clermont-Ferrand catchment area.

Secondary objectives are to describe the study population and explore factors potentially associated with brief suicidal crises, including age and sex; to assess psychological pain during brief suicidal crises; to estimate the 12-month prevalence of suicidal crises lasting more than 24 hours; to assess psychological pain during suicidal crises lasting more than 24 hours.

Primary outcome measures

• Risk score of brief suicidal crisis [Time frame: Day 1]

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion criteria

• Any adult patient consulting the psychiatrist in his/her office during the recruitment period, regardless of the reason for the consultation, and who has given consent to participate in this study.

Exclusion criteria

• Minor patients, or patients who refuse to participate in the study.
• Patients who have already completed the self-administered questionnaires previously (e.g., a second consultation within the same week).
• Patients unable to understand and complete the self-administered questionnaires (cognitive impairment, difficulty understanding French, etc.).

Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.

Healthy volunteers: No

Study design

Observational model

Ecologic or community

Study locations

France · 1 center

• CHU de Clermont-ferrand — Clermont-Ferrand

Identifiers

NCT: NCT07740356 · 2025-CF568

Primary sources (government registries)

• ClinicalTrials.gov (US NIH)

View this study on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗