Breaking Down Barriers to a Suicide Prevention Helpline

NCT05458830 | Completed

• 2 other identifiers: Selftest1132021.0443
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 775
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Every month, around four thousand people fill in the anonymous self-test for suicidal thoughts on the website of the Dutch suicide prevention helpline 113 Suicide Prevention. The self-test includes the Suicidal Ideation Attributes Scale (SIDAS) and informs people about the severity of their suicidal thoughts. The vast majority (70%) of people who complete the test score higher than the cut-off point (≥ 21) for severe suicidal thoughts. Despite this, only around 10% of test-takers navigate to the webpage about contacting the helpline. In this study the investigators test an intervention that aims to reduce barriers to contacting the helpline via chat or phone. People with severe suicidal thoughts and little motivation to contact the helpline will be randomly allocated either to a brief Barrier Reduction Intervention (BRI) or care as usual, a plain advisory text. The aim of our study is two-fold: (i) to measure the effectiveness of a brief barrier reduction intervention (BRI) in the self-test motivating people with severe suicidal thoughts to contact the helpline, and (ii) to specifically evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention in increasing service utilisation by high-risk groups for suicide such as men and people of middle age.

Conditions

Suicidal Ideation

Keywords

Barrier reduction intervention; Suicidal ideation; Self-help; Suicide prevention helpline; Randomised controlled trial; Help-seeking

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• The use of a direct link to the helpline

  The primary outcome measure is the use of a direct link to the helpline after completing the intervention or the control condition (plain advisory text, care as usual).

  immediately after intervention

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Self-reported likelihood of contacting the helpline

  immediately after intervention

Other Outcomes (5)

• Severity of suicidal thoughts: Suicidal Ideation Attributes Scale (SIDAS)

  Baseline measurement

• Gender

  Baseline measurement

• Age group

  Baseline measurement

Study Arms (2)

Intervention

EXPERIMENTAL

After selecting a barrier in the barrier survey, participants receive tailored information with the purpose of addressing common concerns and misconceptions about the helpline.

Behavioral: Brief Barrier Reduction Intervention

Care as usual

OTHER

Plain advisory text

Behavioral: Plain advisory text

Interventions

Brief Barrier Reduction Intervention BEHAVIORAL

After selecting a barrier in the barrier survey, participants receive tailored information with the purpose of addressing common concerns and misconceptions about the helpline.

Intervention

Plain advisory text BEHAVIORAL

Care as usual

Also known as: care as usual

Care as usual

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 16 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may not qualify if:

• participant is younger than 16 years old.
• participant scores below the cut-off point for severe suicidal thoughts (SIDAS score \< 21).
• participant scores above the cut-off point for severe suicidal thoughts (SIDAS score ≥ 21) and reports being likely to contact the suicide prevention helpline. They will be directly transferred to the contact details of the helpline.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• 113 Suicide Prevention: lead

Study Sites (1)

113 Suicide Prevention

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Location

Related Publications (1)

• van der Burgt MCA, Merelle S, Brinkman WP, Beekman ATF, Gilissen R. Breaking Down Barriers to a Suicide Prevention Helpline: Protocol for a Web-Based Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Res Protoc. 2023 Apr 24;12:e41078. doi: 10.2196/41078.

  PMID: 37093641 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Suicidal Ideation

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Suicide; Self-Injurious Behavior; Behavioral Symptoms; Behavior

Study Officials

• Saskia Mérelle

  113 Suicide Prevention

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Model Details: The study is designed as a randomised controlled trial for the anonymous users of an online self-test for suicidal thoughts in which individuals with severe suicidal thoughts and no interest in contacting the helpline will be randomly allocated either to a short barrier reduction intervention (BRI) or receive a general advisory text (care as usual). To minimise the burden on the high-risk and sensitive study population, the investigators aim that it is feasible to complete the intervention within 10 minutes.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: July 12, 2022
• First Posted: July 14, 2022
• Study Start: October 7, 2022
• Primary Completion: December 5, 2022
• Study Completion: April 1, 2023
• Last Updated: July 13, 2023

Record last verified: 2022-07

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

NL (1)