A Randomized Controlled Trial to Assess Feasibility and Acceptability of Telephone-Based Psychosocial Interventions in Individuals who Attempted Suicide.

backgroundBrief contact interventions such as telephone-based contacts appear to be useful in individuals who attempted suicide. Most studies of telephone-based contacts in such individuals typically consisted of frequent phone reminders for adherence to treatment and seeking help for mental health issues. Telephone-based psychosocial interventions that incorporate elements of supportive and problem-solving strategies are of interest in Indian settings due to their potential application in mitigating the wide mental health gap. Feasibility studies of telephone-based psychosocial interventions could help ascertain the difficulties that arise in the implementation of such treatments.

methodsA multicentric randomized controlled trial (RCT) is currently underway in general hospital settings in two Indian cities to study the efficacy of telephone-based psychosocial interventions in individuals with a recent suicide attempt, with routine telephone contacts (TCs) serving as the comparator. Prior to that RCT, this feasibility study was conducted to assess the acceptability of the telephone-based intervention and telephone contacts. Feasibility was assessed using dropout rates. Acceptability was assessed using participant-rated Likert-based visual analog scores from 0 to 10, with higher scores indicating greater acceptability.

resultsDropout rates and mean acceptability scores for telephone-based psychosocial interventions were 38.5% and 8.63, while those for TCs were 41.7% and 7.57, respectively.

conclusionsTelephone-based psychosocial interventions are feasible and acceptable in individuals with a recent suicide attempt.