ReviewThe American journal of psychiatry2002
Contact with mental health and primary care providers before suicide: a review of the evidence.
Review in The American journal of psychiatry, 2002. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 3 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 458 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Collaborative Hub to Reduce the Burden of Suicide Among Urban American Indian and Alaska Native Young Adults
Protocol for a Feasibility Study of Narrative Exposure Therapy in Homeless Individuals With Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Training General Practitioners in Bulgaria to Reduce Suicide Rate: A Controlled Study
Who cites it
458 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 1,571 citations in OpenAlex.
- Brief interventions for suicidal ideation in primary care: a systematic review.BMC primary care · 2025Pooled it
- Risks of suicide in migraine, non-migraine headache, back, and neck pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in neurology · 2023Pooled it
- Suicide risk and mortality among patients with cancer.Nature medicine · 2022Pooled it
- Improving Suicide Prevention Through Evidence-Based Strategies: A Systematic Review.The American journal of psychiatry · 2021Pooled it
- Pilot microrandomized trial of a brief digital intervention for suicidal thoughts.Journal of consulting and clinical psychology · 2025Trial
- User-Reported Mechanisms of Change on a Suicide Prevention Website: Single-Arm Pragmatic Trial.JMIR formative research · 2025Trial
- Effectiveness of Integrating Suicide Care in Primary Care : Secondary Analysis of a Stepped-Wedge, Cluster Randomized Implementation Trial.Annals of internal medicine · 2024Trial
- Ethical and methodological challenges slowing progress in primary care-based suicide prevention: Illustrations from a randomized controlled trial and guidance for future research.Journal of psychiatric research · 2022Trial
- Diabetes and Suicide Risk Among Black Males, Including Sexual Minority Males: A Narrative Review With Primary Care Implications.Current diabetes reports · 2026Review
- Hospital-Based Pediatric Suicide Risk Screening Outcomes Vary by Demographic and Clinical Characteristics.JAACAP open · 2026Article
- Racial discrimination in healthcare and public settings as a predictor of suicidal ideation onset among U.S. Adults with baseline depressive symptoms.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2026Article
- Risk Factors for First-Attempt Suicide Fatalities: Evidence From the MCOSUL Cohort.Actas espanolas de psiquiatria · 2026Article
- Challenges and Opportunities in Primary Care-Oriented Population-Based Suicide Risk Screening.Journal of general internal medicine · 2026Article
- Development of a Patient Decision Aid to Prevent Firearm Suicide Among US Women Reserve and National Guard Veterans.Journal of general internal medicine · 2026Article
- Integration of Suicide Prevention Training into the Preclinical Medical School Curriculum.Medical science educator · 2026Article
- Virginia's inpatient mental healthcare geography post SB260.Health policy OPEN · 2026Article
- Suicide Risk Among Youth Who Choose "No Response" on Emergency Department Suicide Risk Screenings.Suicide & life-threatening behavior · 2026Article
- The evolution of suicide mortality in Europe: decline with persistent disparities in an age-period-cohort analysis.Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences · 2026Article
- Initial Suicide-Related Disclosure Characteristics, Motivations, and Outcomes Based on Sexual Orientation.Journal of clinical psychology · 2026Article
- A retrospective cohort study of clinical characteristics and healthcare contacts in Sweden prior to suicide in individuals with heart disease.BMC primary care · 2026Article
398 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveThis study examined rates of contact with primary care and mental health care professionals by individuals before they died by suicide.
methodThe authors reviewed 40 studies for which there was information available on rates of health care contact and examined age and gender differences among the subjects.
resultsContact with primary care providers in the time leading up to suicide is common. While three of four suicide victims had contact with primary care providers within the year of suicide, approximately one-third of the suicide victims had contact with mental health services. About one in five suicide victims had contact with mental health services within a month before their suicide. On average, 45% of suicide victims had contact with primary care providers within 1 month of suicide. Older adults had higher rates of contact with primary care providers within 1 month of suicide than younger adults.
conclusionsWhile it is not known to what degree contact with mental health care and primary care providers can prevent suicide, the majority of individuals who die by suicide do make contact with primary care providers, particularly older adults. Given that this pattern is consistent with overall health-service-seeking, alternate approaches to suicide-prevention efforts may be needed for those less likely to be seen in primary care or mental health specialty care, specifically young men.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.