Trial of a Brief Psychological Intervention for Suicidal Patients with Borderline Personality Disorder in the Emergency Department

Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of a Brief Psychological Intervention for Suicidal Patients with Borderline Personality Disorder in the Emergency Department

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT04779099

Enrollment

Registered

2021-03-03

Start date

2021-10-22

Completion date

2023-05-24

Last updated

2024-12-04

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Borderline Personality Disorder, Suicide and Self-harm

Brief summary

When in crisis, people with borderline personality disorder (BPD) frequently seek care in emergency departments (EDs) often presenting with suicide and self-harm behaviour. There is no established evidence-based brief intervention for patients with BPD in ED settings, however a 4-session psychotherapeutic intervention for people with personality disorders in ED settings was tested in Australia and showed promising results in reduced health care utilization. The proposed pilot randomized controlled trial will assess the feasibility of delivering this 4-session intervention in the ED for people with BPD who present with suicidal ideation or self-harm with the aim of reducing health care utilization.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALTreatment as usual

TAU comprises access to psychiatric assessment, medication review, and unscheduled sessions with allied health professionals using a drop-in model of care.

BEHAVIORALBrief 4-session intervention for borderline personality disorder

Intervention consists of weekly 50-minute 1:1 sessions focused on psycho-education, here-and-now problem solving and safety planning. One of the sessions can involve a significant other to provide psychoeducation about the disorder and to facilitate support. This intervention is detailed in a published manual.

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

DOUBLE (Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

16 Years to No maximum

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

1. aged 16 or older 2. presenting to ED with self-harm and/or suicidal ideation; and 3. meeting criteria for BPD on the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 Personality Disorders

Exclusion criteria

1. unable to give informed consent; 2. meeting DSM-5 criteria for severe substance use disorder, schizophrenia spectrum disorder or bipolar disorder I mania based on the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 (28); and/or 3. IQ \< 70 based on the Wechsler Test of Adult Reading

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Primary clinical outcome measure - Emergency Department Visits	1, 3 and 6 month follow up	The primary clinical outcome will be the mean group difference in frequency of ER visits on the Client Service Receipt Inventory (CSRI)

Countries

Canada

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026