
Past Issues
Cut-off Values of Five-item Brief Symptom Rating Scale in Evaluating Suicidality among Military Recruits
Chin-Chao Ma, Yueh-Ming Tai
Objectives: Suicide is a big worldwide problem and also a national public
health issue. How to screen high-risk soldiers is essential at an early stage of mili-tary service. The objectives of this study were to assess prevalences, to investigate
the associated rôle in five-item Brief Symptom Rating Scale (BSRS-5), and to
determine the cut-off scores of BSRS-5 in each type of suicidality in new military
recruits. Methods: We recruited 1,222 soldiers who completed all copies of ques-tionnaire from a military base in northern Taiwan. The subjects completed the
copies of questionnaire of BSRS-5 and Adult Self-Report Scale Inventory-4 (the
ASRI), and a copy of questionnaire of the optional Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation
(BSS) was also completed for those who had ever had suicidality. Results: This
study revealed high prevalences of suicidal ideation (SI), suicidal attempt (SA),
and deliberate self-harm (DSH) of military recruits. While using BSRS-5 as a
screening instrument for SI, DSH, and SA, the suggested cut-offs were 7, 8, and 8,
respectively and had almost the same magnitudes of area under curves compared
with the general cut-offs. In addition, better specificity for military recruits was
noted and associated factors for each kind of suicidality were almost similar. Conclusion: The study results suggest that BSRS-5 can be efficiently used to distin-guish
suicidality from the military recruits and better specificity of new cut-offs.
This easily administered tool can help screen high risk suicidal military recruits for suicide prevention.
Key Word | receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, suicidal ideation, suicidal attempt, deliberate self-harm |
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