Interruptive Clinical Decision Support Prompts More Suicide Risk Assessments
TUESDAY, Jan. 7, 2025 -- Interruptive clinical decision support (CDS) is significantly more effective at prompting in-person suicide risk assessment than noninterruptive CDS, according to a study published online Jan. 3 in JAMA Network Open.
Colin G. Walsh, M.D., from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, and colleagues evaluated the effectiveness of risk model-driven CDS on suicide risk assessment. The analysis included 561 neurology patients (596 clinician encounters) randomly assigned to interruptive or noninterruptive CDS.
The researchers found that after adjusting for clinician cluster effects, interruptive CDS with an on-screen pop-up led to significantly higher numbers of decisions to screen (42 versus 4 percent for noninterruptive CDS; odds ratio, 17.70). Interruptive CDS also led to significantly higher numbers of decisions to screen compared with the baseline rate the prior year (8 percent of encounters). There were no documented episodes of suicidal ideation or attempts in either arm.
"In this randomized clinical trial of interruptive and noninterruptive CDS to prompt face-to-face suicide risk assessment, interruptive CDS led to higher numbers of decisions to screen with documented suicide risk assessments," the authors write. "Well-powered large-scale trials randomizing this type of CDS compared with standard of care are indicated to measure effectiveness in reducing suicidal self-harm."
One author disclosed ties to HealthStream.
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Read this next
No Adverse Neurodevelopmental Effects Seen From Inhaled Anesthesia in Children Under 2
THURSDAY, Sept. 11, 2025 -- For children younger than 2 years undergoing surgery, no adverse neurodevelopmental effects are seen with the addition of dexmedetomidine and...
Dementia Odds Significantly Increase With More Psychiatric Comorbidities
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 10, 2025 -- Dementia odds significantly increase with the number of psychiatric comorbidities, according to a study published online Sept. 9 in BMJ Mental...
Adjunctive Ketogenic Diet Beneficial for Major Depressive Disorder
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 10, 2025 -- A ketogenic diet (KD) is a feasible adjunctive therapy and is associated with improvements in depression symptoms among young adults with major...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.