Evaluation of a modified interview version and of a self-rating version of the Suicide Assessment Scale

The Suicide Assessment Scale (SUAS) was constructed to be sensitive to change of suicidality. It was recently found to be predictive of suicide in a group of suicide attempters. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of a modified interview version of SUAS with defined scores and also a new self-rating version (SUAS-S). The subjects consisted of former inpatients, 42 persons who had been admitted because of a suicide attempt about 12 years ago and 22 control patients. The subjects were rated according to the SUAS, the SUAS-S, as well as the Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS). The interrater reliability was found to be high. The SUAS correlated significantly with the MADRS, but the concordance was not consistent, which indicates that the SUAS measures something different from depression. The SUAS-S correlated significantly with the interview-rated SUAS, thus exhibiting good concurrent validity. In summary, both the modified interview version of SUAS and the SUAS-S seem to be valid, reliable and easily used suicide assessment instruments.