Comparison of the performance of suicide ideation scales in adult patients with epilepsy in China.

OBJECTIVE

The aims of this study were to evaluate and compare the performance of the Chinese version of the Suicide Ideation Scale-Current (SSI-C) and the Suicide Ideation Scale-Worst (SSI-W) as suicide ideation screening tools in patients with epilepsy (PWE).

METHODS

A consecutive sample of Chinese adult PWE recruited from a tertiary hospital completed the SSI-C and SSI-W and the suicidality module of the Chinese version of the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) Plus 5.0.0.

RESULTS

A total of 260 consecutive PWE were recruited. The area under the curve (AUC) for the SSI-C was 0.831, and the optimal cutoff score was >1 (sensitivity 73%, specificity 91%); for the SSI-W, the AUC was 0.958, and the optimal cutoff score was >2 (sensitivity 94.6%, specificity 87.4%). The AUC for the SSI-W was larger than that for the SSI-C, and the two-factor structure was considered significant.

CONCLUSION

Our results showed that the SSI-C and SSI-W had good validity as suicidal ideation screening tools in PWE in southern China and can be recommended for clinical suicidal ideation screening. The SSI-W is a better suicidal ideation screening tool than the SSI-C according to the results of our study.