By Lori Zitelli, David Jedlicka, Tricia Scaglione, and Ivette Cejas
This article is a part of the September/October 2021, Volume 33, Number 5, Audiology Today issue.
Suicide was the tenth leading cause of death in the United States overall in 2018 and the second leading cause of death for individuals 10 to 34 years of age, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC, 2020). Rates of suicide have been increasing since 1999, highlighting suicide as a global health concern.
Many health-care providers do not have specific training in this area and, consequently, lack the skills required to recognize warning signs and risk factors for suicide (Schmitz et al, 2012). In an effort to address this deficit, the American Association of Suicidology developed a curriculum titled “Assessing and Managing Suicide Risk” that details the core competencies required to assess and manage individuals at risk for suicide (Suicide Prevention Resource Center, 2021).
Although suicide risk assessment (SRA) is a process most commonly employed by mental health professionals, health-care providers in other roles may be presented with crucial opportunities to identify and mitigate suicide risk (Silverman and Berman, 2014). Audiologists are no exception.
Our patient population includes individuals suffering from complex medical needs that have been linked with higher rates of depression and anxiety (Riccio et al, 1994; Iliadou and Iakovides, 2003; Jüris et al, 2013; Aazh and Moore, 2017; Ziai et al, 2017; Cusack et al, 2018; Shoham et al, 2019; Lawrence et al, 2020; Siepsiak et al, 2020; Zhu et al, 2020), putting them at higher risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors (Too et al, 2019). Depression is the most common diagnosis associated with suicide (Brådvik, 2018).
The prevalence of depression is often elevated in individuals with chronic medical conditions (Katon, 2011). Hearing loss, tinnitus, dizziness, and other hearing- and balance-related disorders are likely to require frequent medical appointments and have been linked with higher rates of depression or other mental health conditions (Savastano et al, 2007). Specifically, one study reported elevated rates of depression and anxiety in an otology practice using a mental-health screener (Cejas et al, 2021).
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