The Attitude of Psychiatric and Non-psychiatric Health-care Workers Toward Suicide in Malaysian Hospitals and Its Implications for Training

Radiographers' experiences and educational needs in relation to caring for suicidal patients during radiology examinations

INTRODUCTION

Researchers have explored the experiences, attitudes, and educational needs of several healthcare professional groups in relation to caring for suicidal patients. However, radiographers have not been included in these studies. Radiographers are likely to encounter these patients when they present for diagnostic imaging following suicide attempts.

METHODS

An online questionnaire exploring radiographers' experiences and educational needs in caring for suicidal patients was circulated to radiographers working in 23 acute hospitals across Ireland and posted to a Facebook page targeting Irish-based radiographers. Closed-ended questions were used to capture respondents' demographics and five-point Likert scale questions to establish their confidence levels in imaging suicidal patients. Open-ended questions were used to explore their experiences and educational needs. Quantitative data was analysed using descriptives statistics, and qualitative data thematically analysed.

RESULTS

One hundred and four radiographers responded to the questionnaire, 96% of whom had imaged suicidal patients. Radiographers were confident in justifying and optimising these radiographic examinations, however, less confident in communicating with and caring for these patients. Radiographers reported insufficient patient history on imaging referrals and challenges in communicating with suicidal patients, which many attributed to lack of training. Radiographers expressed interest in further education related to caring for patients who've attempted suicide, which they felt should include an introduction to psychiatry, strategies for communicating with suicidal patients and building resilience.

CONCLUSION

Radiographers' experiences of imaging suicidal patients have been reported along with several challenges which could be addressed through further education.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

Further education in caring for suicidal patients should be offered to radiographers which aligns with their educational needs. Referring clinicians should be reminded of the importance of informing radiographers of patients' suicide attempt when referring them for diagnostic imaging.

Suicide stigma measures: A scoping review

BACKGROUND

Worldwide, approximately 800,000 people die by suicide every year, and non-fatal suicidal thoughts and behaviours are common. Stigma is likely a major barrier to preventing suicide. The purpose of our review is to scope the development, psychometric properties and use of measures that explicitly seek to measure the construct of suicide stigma.

METHODS

We conducted a scoping review. We searched PubMed, PsycINFO, Embase and CINAHL using search terms related to suicide, stigma and measures/scales with no date limits. We included any measure the authors defined as measuring suicide-related stigma. Only peer-reviewed articles published in English were included.

RESULTS

We included 106 papers discussing 23 measures of suicide stigma; 82 provided data on psychometric properties. Measures assessed personal or public stigma; and stigma toward a range of suicidal phenomena (e.g., suicidal thoughts, those bereaved by suicide). 'Stigma' definitions varied and were not always provided. The Grief Experience Questionnaire, Suicide Opinion Questionnaire and Stigma of Suicide Scale were the most commonly cited. Measures varied in the strength of their psychometric properties.

LIMITATIONS

We only included papers in English. Because we included any measures authors defined as measuring suicide stigma, we may have included measures not commonly considered as measures of suicide stigma, and conversely we might have excluded relevant measures because they did not use the term 'stigma'.

DISCUSSION

This review aimed to assist in better understanding available suicide stigma measures, their strengths and weaknesses and current uses, and will inform the development of future suicide stigma measures.

The Meaning of Suicidal Behaviour for Portuguese Nursing Students

BACKGROUND

The nursing perspectives on suicidal behaviors may influence the quality of assistance and suicidal prevention. This phenomenon is scarcely investigated among nursing students.

AIMS

The aim of this study is to understand the meanings of suicidal behavior for Portuguese undergraduate students.

METHODS

This qualitative study utilized Grounded Theory and Symbolic Interactionism. We collected data in Portugal in 2017-2018 with 13 undergraduate students.

RESULTS

Students compared suicidal behavior to "A complex and close haze" and considered it "A neglected phenomenon". Suicidal behavior was predominantly perceived as an emotional distress that requires assistance. The students compared the person and society as "The car and the road: behavior influenced by communication and interaction" and valorized social dimensions and repercussions of suicidal behavior.

LIMITATIONS

Lack of triangulation in the data and the sampling restricted to nursing students of a single institution are considered limitations of this study.

CONCLUSIONS

This study can contribute to the development of academic education strategies and psychosocial support for nursing students.

The Malay Literacy of Suicide Scale: A Rasch Model Validation and Its Correlation with Mental Health Literacy among Malaysian Parents, Caregivers and Teachers

The 27-item Literacy of Suicide Scale (LOSS) is a test designed to measure the respondent’s suicide knowledge. The purpose of this study is to examine the psychometric properties of the Malay-translated version of the LOSS (M-LOSS) and its association to sociodemographic factors and mental health literacy. The 27-item LOSS was forward–backward translated into Malay, and the content and face validities were assessed. The version was distributed to 750 respondents across West Malaysia. Rasch model analysis was then conducted to assess the scale’s psychometric properties. The validated M-LOSS and the Malay version of the Mental Health Knowledge Schedule (MAKS-M) were then distributed to 867 respondents to evaluate their level of suicide literacy, mental health literacy, and their correlation. Upon Rasch analysis, 26 items were retained. The scale was found to be unidimensional, with generally satisfying separation and reliability indexes. Sex, socio-economic status, and experience in mental health were found to significantly impact the mean score for mental health literacy. This study also found a significant mean difference for suicide literacy across school types. Furthermore, while this study observed a weak but significant negative correlation between age and suicide literacy, no correlation was found between mental health and suicide literacy.

Meanings of suicidal behavior from the perspective of primary care professionals

OBJECTIVE

To explore the meaning of suicidal behavior from the perspective of family health professionals.

METHOD

A qualitative study developed during 2017-2018 with 18 primary care professionals from a Brazilian municipality. Grounded theory was used as the methodological framework. Semi-oriented interviews were conducted, transcribed, and analyzed by open, axial, and selective coding.

FINDINGS

The professionals perceived themselves as unprepared, emotionally affected, and fearful to work in suicide prevention, prioritizing the referral of people to specialized services regardless of the severity of the situation. Suicide was represented as both a choice and a condition of vulnerability, being more reprehensible when associated with individual choice.

CONCLUSION

We identified beliefs related to suicidal behavior that could affect the care of people at risk. Our findings reinforce the need for education and training in the prevention of suicidal behavior in primary care.

Psychological characteristics of suicide attempters among undergraduate college students in China: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

There is a need to understand the psychological characteristics of suicide attempters to prevent future suicide attempts. This study aims to examine potential differences between individuals who have attempted suicide and those who have not done so, on several risk and protective measures.

METHOD

Participants were 11,806 undergraduate students from seven provinces in China, of which 237 reported a non-fatal suicide attempt. We used the random numbers generator function within the SPSS to randomly select a control subset of 1185 participants to be used as the comparison group based on a 1:5 case-control ratio. Scores on three commonly used risk measures (depression, hopelessness, and psychache) and three protective measures (social support, self-esteem, and purpose in life) for suicidality were adopted to compare the responses of the two groups.

RESULTS

Suicide attempters had indicated higher Median scores for all three risk factor measurements. Suicide attempters also reported significantly lower Median scores for all three protective factor measurements compared to non-suicide attempters. The results suggest that the suicide attempters' group had higher risks of suicidality compared to the non-attempter group.

CONCLUSIONS

Suicide attempters continued to report higher scores of risk factors and lower scores of protective factors, indicating that they may continue to be at a higher likelihood of a suicide attempt. Key protective factors should be identified for each individual in order to deliver appropriate clinical interventions to reduce their risk of reattempting.

Prevalence and Factors Associated with Suicidal Ideation in Institutionalized Patients with Schizophrenia

Purpose

The shorter life expectancy and increased risk of suicide in patients with schizophrenia have been well documented. However, study outcomes on suicidality in this special population have been few to date. This study investigated the prevalence and factors associated with suicidal ideation in a population of institutionalized patients with schizophrenia.

Methods

Two hundred fifty-six patients with schizophrenia between the age of 18 and 65 years were randomly recruited. This cross-sectional study utilised the Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia (CDSS), the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and the Psychotic Symptom Rating Scale (PSYRATS-AH). Univariate analysis was performed using an independent t-test or chi-square test, followed by binary logistic regression to determine the factors associated with increased suicidal risks.

Results

The socio-demographic factors associated with suicidal ideation included level of education (p=0.039); secondary-level education (OR=5.76, 95% CI:1.49, 22.34, p=0.011) and tertiary-level education (OR=9.30, 95% CI: 1.80, 48.12, p=0.008) posed a greater risk. A history of attempted suicide (OR=2.09, 95% CI: 1.01, 4.36, p=0.049) and the presence of co-morbid physical illnesses (OR=2.07, 95% CI: 1.02, 4.21, p=0.044) were also found to be associated with a suicidal ideation. Other significant factors associated with suicidal thoughts were concurrent depression (OR=9.68, 95% CI: 3.74, 25.05, p<0.001) and a higher PSYRATS score in emotional characteristics of auditory hallucinations (OR=1.13, 95% CI: 1.06, 1.21, p<0.001).

Conclusion

Suicide in schizophrenia appears to be more closely associated with certain socio-demographic factors and affective symptoms. Appropriate screening and treatment addressing these challenges must be emphasized if suicidal thoughts and actions are to be reduced.

"Will you treat me? I'm suicidal!" The effect of patient gender, suicidal severity, and therapist characteristics on the therapist's likelihood to treat a hypothetical suicidal patient

The purpose of our study was to broaden the understanding regarding mental health professionals' willingness to treat and likeliness to refer suicidal patients to other professionals. More specifically, our aim was to examine the effect of the patient's gender and suicidal severity, as well as the mental health professionals' personal and professional characteristics, on the willingness to treat and likeliness to refer. A total of 331 mental health professionals were randomly exposed to one of four case descriptions of a hypothetical patient in a crisis. The cases shared a common background story; however, they differed in terms of the patient's gender and suicidal condition (high vs. low). The exposure was followed by questionnaires aimed to reflect the subject's evaluation of the patient's suicidal severity, the subject's sense of competence and responsibility, willingness to treat or likeliness to refer, emotional contagion, and depression. The results indicate a lower willingness to treat and higher likelihood to refer suicidal patients compared with depressed patients. In addition, subjects exposed to the high suicidality cases showed a greater willingness to treat and refer female patients compared with male patients. A sense of competence was found as the strongest predictor of mental health professionals' willingness to treat and likelihood to refer, and emotional contagion was found as a predictor of likelihood to refer. It is important that mental health professionals be aware of the low tendency to treat suicidal patients especially if they are male. Further research should explore suitable training programmes and their application in the mental health curriculum.

Anteceding factors predicting absenteeism and presenteeism in urban area in Malaysia

Background

Organization productivity is strongly linked to employees’ socioeconomic characteristics and health which is marked by absenteeism and presenteeism. This study aims to identify anteceding factors predicting employees’ absenteeism and presenteeism by income, physical and mental health.

Methods

An online health survey was conducted between May to July 2017 among employees from 47 private companies located in urban Malaysia. A total of 5235 respondents completed the 20-min online employee health survey on a voluntary basis. Chi-Square or Fisher’s exact tests were used to determine association between income with demographic and categorical factors of absenteeism and presenteeism. Multivariate linear regression was used to identify factors predicting absenteeism and presenteeism.

Results

More than one third of respondents’ monthly income were less than RM4,000 (35.4%), 29.6% between RM4,000-RM7,999 and 35.0% earned RM8,000 and above. The mean age was 33.8 years (sd ± 8.8) and 49.1% were married. A majority were degree holders (74.4%) and 43.6% were very concerned about their financial status. Mean years of working was 6.2 years (sd ± 6.9) with 68.9% satisfied with their job. More than half reported good general physical health (54.5%) (p = 0.065) and mental health (53.5%) (p = 0.019). The mean hours of sleep were 6.4 h (sd ± 1.1) with 63.2% reporting being unwell due to stress for the past 12 months. Mean work time missed due to ill-health (absenteeism) was 3.1% (sd ± 9.1), 2.8% (sd ± 9.1) and 1.8% (sd ± 6.5) among employees whose monthly income was less than RM4,000, RM4,000-RM7,999 and over RM8,000 respectively (p = 0.0066). Mean impairment while working due to ill-health (presenteeism) was 28.2% (sd ± 25.3), 24.9% (sd ± 25.5) and 20.3% (sd ± 22.9) among employees whose monthly income was less than RM4,000, RM4,000-RM7,999 and over RM8,000 respectively (p < 0.0001). Factors that predict both absenteeism and presenteeism were income, general physical health, sleep length and being unwell due to stress.

Conclusions

A combination of socioeconomic, physical and mental health factors predicted absenteeism and presenteeism with different strengths. Having insufficient income may lead to second jobs or working more hours which may affect their sleep, subjecting them to stressful condition and poor physical health. These findings demand holistic interventions from organizations and the government.

Health-Care Workers’ Perception of Patients’ Suicide Intention and Factors Leading to It: A Qualitative Study

This study explored health-care workers’ perception of patients’ suicide intention and their understanding of factors leading to particular interpretations. Semistructured face-to-face in-depth interviews were conducted with 32 health-care workers from a general hospital in Klang Valley, Malaysia. Interview data were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using the interpretative phenomenological analysis. The health-care workers were found to have four types of perceptions: to end life, not to end life, ambivalence about intention, and an evolving understanding of intention. Factors leading to their perceptions of patients’ suicide intention were patient demographics, health status, severity of ideation/attempt, suicide method, history of treatment, moral character, communication of suicide intention, affective/cognitive status, availability of social support, and health-care workers’ limited knowledge of patients’ condition/situation. Insufficient knowledge and negative attitudes toward suicidal patients led to risk minimization and empathic failure, although most health-care workers used the correct parameters in determining suicide intention.

Gatekeeper Suicide Training's Effectiveness Among Malaysian Hospital Health Professionals: A Control Group Study With a Three-Month Follow-Up

INTRODUCTION

There is a lack of suicide-related training in the nonpsychiatric health professional's basic education. We suggest that a continuing education through a brief gatekeeper suicide training program could be a suitable platform to improve suicide-related knowledge, self-efficacy, and attitudes. This study aimed at examining the effectiveness of the Question, Persuade, Refer gatekeeper program on improving the knowledge, self-efficacy in suicide prevention, and understanding of/willingness to help suicidal patients of Malaysian hospital health professionals.

METHODS

The Question, Persuade, Refer program materials were translated and adapted for implementation in the hospital setting for nonpsychiatric health professionals. There were 159 (mean age = 35.75 years; SD = 12.26) participants in this study. Most participants were female (84.9%), staff/community nurses (52.2%), who worked in the general medical department (30.2%) and had no experience managing suicidal patients (64.2%). Intervention participants (n = 53) completed a survey questionnaire at pretraining, immediately after training, and after three months. Control participants (n = 106) were not exposed to the training program and completed the same questionnaire at baseline and three months later.

RESULTS

Significant improvement occurred among intervention participants in terms of perceived knowledge, self-efficacy, and understanding of/willingness to help suicidal patients immediately after training and when compared with the control participants 3 months later. Improvements in declarative knowledge were not maintained at the 3-month follow-up.

DISCUSSION

This study confirmed the short-term effectiveness of the gatekeeper training program. Gatekeeper suicide training is recommended for implementation for nonpsychiatric health professionals nationwide.