Psychometrische eigenschappen van de Nurses' Global Assessment of Suicide Risk schaal (NGASR)

Abstract

Title: Psychometric properties of the Dutch Nurses’ Global Assessment of Suicide Risk scale (NGASR). Background: Systematic suicide risk assessment by Community Psychiatric Nurses (CPN’s) is an essential part of crisis intervention. Earlier research showed that the NGASR is a useful instrument to show insight in suicidal thoughts and behaviour (Cutcliffe & Barker, 2004). There’s yet no Dutch validated version available. Aim and research question: To examine the psychometric properties, answering the following research questions: “Is the NGASR is valid, reliable and applicable instrument to assess suicide risk in adults referred to the crisis resolution ward?” and “what is the correlation between the NGASR-scores and protective suicide interventions?” Method: A descriptive, psychometric research among 252 patients. For those who already had done a suicide attempt, the Suicide Intention Scale (SIS) was also used. Psychiatrists used the NGASR independently among 45 patients. Demographic and diagnostic data were collected and a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) was used before and after the use of the NGASR among all twelve CPN’s. Results: Factor analysis identified five factors. Cronbach’s alpha was 0.42. The Intra-class correlation was 0.70 (p<0.05). There’s a significant correlation between NGASR sum scores and the number of admissions, and related to the level of suicidality. There is no significant difference in confidence assessing suicide before or after the use of the NGASR. Conclusions: The Dutch NGASR doesn’t show a unique underlying construct, knowing that a suicide risk instrument can’t always have internal consistency. There is, however consistency between a number of items. The instrument might be applicable as part of a broader assessment. Recommendations: a shortened or adapted version of the NGASR is recommended in further research. Suicide risk assessment should be part of nursing education.