Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37005569›Full record

ArticleBMC primary care2023

Nudging General Practitioners to explore suicidal thoughts among depressed patients.

Elke Elzinga, Derek P de Beurs, Aartjan T F Beekman, Otto R Maarsingh, Renske Gilissen

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC primary care, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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2 · The registry

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Elke Elzinga113 Suicide prevention, research department, Paasheuvelweg 25, Amsterdam, 1105 BP, the Netherlands. e.elzinga@113.nl.
Derek P de BeursDepartment of Clinical Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Aartjan T F BeekmanDepartment of Psychiatry, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Otto R MaarsinghDepartment of General Practice, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Renske Gilissen113 Suicide prevention, research department, Paasheuvelweg 25, Amsterdam, 1105 BP, the Netherlands.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundWhile frank discussion of suicidal thoughts in patients with depression is important for the prevention of suicide, suicide exploration of General Practitioners (GPs) is suboptimal. This study aimed to assess whether an intervention that prompts pop-up screens nudges GPs to more frequently explore suicidal thoughts over the course of two years.

methodsFrom January 2017 to December 2018, the intervention was incorporated in the information system of the Dutch general practice sentinel network. New registration of an episode of depression triggered a pop-up screen referring to a questionnaire about GPs' behaviour with regard to exploring suicidal thoughts. In two years, 625 questionnaires were completed by GPs and analysed using multilevel logistic regression analyses.

resultsCompared to the first year, GPs were 50% more likely to explore suicidal thoughts among patients in the second year (OR 1.48; 95%CI 1.01-2.16). When adjusting for patients' gender and age we found that the effect of the pop-up screens disappeared (OR 1.33; 95% CI 0.90-1.97). Suicide exploration occurred less frequently in women than in men (OR 0.64; 95% CI 0.43-0.98) and in older compared to younger patients (OR 0.97; 95% CI 0.96-0.98 per year older). In addition, 26% of variation in suicide exploration was because of differences in general practice. There was no evidence that general practices developed differently over time.

conclusionsAlthough low cost and easy to administer, the pop-up system was not effective in nudging GPs to explore suicidality more frequently. We encourage studies to test whether implementing these nudges as part of a multifaceted approach will lead to a stronger effect. Moreover, we recommend researchers to include more variables, such as work experience or previous mental health training, to better understand the effects of the intervention on GPs' behaviour.

Indexed as

General PracticeGeneral PractitionersSuicideAgedFamily PracticeFemaleHumansMaleSuicidal IdeationBehaviour changeClinical guidelines.DepressionGeneral practiceGeneral practitionersInterventionMental healthNudgingSuicide explorationSuicide prevention

Identifiers

PMID37005569
PMCPMC10067310

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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.