Brief Intervention and Contact Program Main Trial

NCT05656781 | Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: 14566 HAH-22-012
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 220
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Suicide is a significant public health concern and causes approximately 1.5% of all deaths in the general population in Canada. Research shows that for individuals with comorbid psychiatric illness and suicidal behaviour, the risk of further suicide attempts persists in the first two years post-discharge with the most vulnerable time being the period immediately post discharge. Several studies have found that alongside usual treatment, follow-up with discharged patients through text messaging, phone calls and letters, contributes to a reduction in attempts and death by suicide, and instances of self-harm. In particular, brief contact interventions have shown positive impacts in reducing further completed suicide and suicidal behaviour in patients presenting to the emergency department following a suicide attempt. The BIC model followed in this study is adapted from the WHO protocol that was utilised as part of the Multisite Intervention Study On Suicidal Behaviours (SUPRE-MISS).

Conditions

Suicidal Behavior

Keywords

suicide; thoughts; attempts; brief intervention; contact

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Suicidal behaviour

  Completed and attempted suicides will be measured using yes/no questions on a self-report questionnaire and will be corroborated using electronic medical record data

  6 months

• Healthcare service utilization

  This outcome will be measured using a questionnaire asking if any of the following supports were contacted: psychiatric or general hospital, out-patient psychiatric service, policlinic service, day-care centre, community mental health care, private psychologist or psychiatrist, consultation service for alcohol and drug related problems, consultation service for relational and sexual problems, self-help group, telephone help line, relatives, friends

  6 months

• Crisis services

  This outcome will be measured using electronic medical record data indicating the number of times crisis phones calls were made and the number of emergency department visits occurred.

  6 months

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Experiences with healthcare services post discharge

  6 months

• Experiences with the BIC intervention

  6 months

Study Arms (2)

Intervention Arm - Brief Intervention & Contact

EXPERIMENTAL

Brief education about suicidal behaviour and follow up contacts for 6 months in addition to treatment as usual. follow up will occur at the following time points post discharge: weeks 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16 and 20. this will occur in addition to treatment as usual.

Other: Brief Intervention and Contact (BIC) based on Word Health Organization (WHO)

Control

NO INTERVENTION

Control will continue treatment as usual which is whatever the clinical team decides upon post discharge. Data will be collected on repeated suicidal behaviour through medical records with consent.

Interventions

Brief Intervention and Contact (BIC) based on Word Health Organization (WHO) OTHER

Intervention based on: Clinical WHO - SUICIDE PREVENTION DOCUMENT MULTISITE INTERVENTION STUDY ON SUICIDAL BEHAVIOURS - SUPRE-MISS: PROTOCOL OF SUPRE-MISS. Brief Intervention and Contact with participants using follow up questions about mood or any suicide attempts.

Also known as: Brief Intervention and Contact (BIC)

Intervention Arm - Brief Intervention & Contact

Eligibility Criteria

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

You may qualify if:

• Admitted following a suicidal behaviour (suicide attempt or with suicidal ideation),
• At least 16 years of age, no restrictions on sex or gender
• Provide written, informed consent,
• Provide consent for research staff to have access to their electronic medical record (EMR),
• Provide consent for research staff to contact their primary care provider, outpatient and other healthcare providers care team, if necessary,
• Provide health card number and consent to share with Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences and link to Ontario health records to analyze and evaluate events such as admissions, death by suicide and usage of health care services (such as hospitalizations) in Ontario for the period covering the study time and 2 years post study completion. The 2 years post discharge will not be feasible to continue follow up for this trial and are reported to be a risk period in the literature. Therefore, we opted to leverage administrative health record data to enrich the study impact post study completion.

You may not qualify if:

• \- We will exclude patients who are unable to understand written and spoken English, as the research staff/clinicians delivering the intervention are limited to English-speaking populations.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton: lead

Study Sites (1)

St. Joseph's Healthcare

Hamilton, Canada

RECRUITING

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Suicide

Interventions

Crisis Intervention; imidazole mustard

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Self-Injurious Behavior; Behavioral Symptoms; Behavior

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Psychotherapy; Behavioral Disciplines and Activities

Study Officials

• Zainab Samaan, MD/PhD

  McMaster Unversity

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Zainab Samaan, MD/PhD

CONTACT

9055221155; samaanz@mcmaster.ca

Jaqueline Hudson, BA

CONTACT

9055221155; hudsonj@mcmaster.ca

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: OTHER
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Principal Investigator, Associate Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: November 10, 2022
• First Posted: December 19, 2022
• Study Start: August 1, 2022
• Primary Completion: March 1, 2026
• Study Completion: March 1, 2026
• Last Updated: August 21, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-08

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

CA (1)