A Randomized Controlled Trial to Assess Feasibility and Acceptability of Telephone-Based Psychosocial Interventions in Individuals who Attempted Suicide. Issue 2 (March 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Sreedaran, Priya; Beniwal, Ram Pratap; Chari, Uttara; Smitha T S, ; Vidhya Shree S V, ; Gupta, Varsha; Bhatia, Triptish; Deshpande, Smita N
• Is Part Of: Indian journal of psychological medicine. Volume 43:Issue 2(2021)
• Page Start: 144
• Page End: 149
• Publication Date: 2021-03
• Subjects: Suicide attempt -- telephone interventions -- brief contact -- psychosocial -- suicide; Psychiatry -- Periodicals; 616.89
• DOI: 10.1177/0253717620939272
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0253-7176

Abstract

Background: Brief 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. Methods: A 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. Results: Dropout 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. Conclusions: Telephone-based psychosocial interventions are feasible and acceptable in individuals with a recent suicide attempt.