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Optimizing Suicide Prevention Strategies for Pediatric Primary Care

Optimizing Suicide Prevention Strategies for Pediatric Primary Care

Status
Completed
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT06194331
Enrollment
30
Registered
2024-01-08
Start date
2025-06-22
Completion date
2026-04-30
Last updated
2026-06-04

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

Conditions

Depression, Suicidal and Self-injurious Behavior, Suicidal Ideation

Keywords

Suicidal Ideation, Suicidal and Self-injurious Behavior, Depression

Brief summary

Increasing rates of suicidal thoughts and behaviors among adolescents must be addressed. The study will adapt and collect preliminary effectiveness data on a digital suicide prevention intervention that can be delivered in pediatric primary care settings by front line pediatricians. The study has the potential to offer a low-cost and scalable primary care intervention that may decrease risk of suicide among at-risk youth.

Detailed description

The study proposed is a treatment development study to enhance the capacity of pediatric primary care (PPC) to identify and manage suicidal youth by adapting iCHART for PPC settings that lack onsite behavioral health (BH) providers. Stepped Wedge Cluster Randomized Pilot Trial: Conduct a stepped wedge cluster randomized pilot trial of iCHART-cASAP vs. usual care across 4 PROS practices (across urban, suburban, and rural settings). Up to 20 providers (up to 5 providers per practice) will be enrolled. Following a 3-month baseline period when all practices provide usual care, practices will be randomized to onset to offering the intervention at one of the four, 3-month intervention onset intervals. Each practice will enroll a total of 15 youth across the 15-month pilot trial period for a total of 60 youth. 30 youth will receive usual care and 30 youth will receive iCHART-cASAP. Delivery of Intervention Intervention will be delivered to adolescent patients and their caregivers receiving services at pediatric primary care practices within the PROS network.When PPC providers are assigned to the usual condition, patients will receive usual practices following identification of suicide risk on the PHQ-9-M. When PPC providers have crossed over to the iCHART- cASAP intervention condition, patients who are identified as suicidal will receive links from PPC providers/office staff to complete cASAP + onboard BRITE app to receive the safety planning and skills training intervention for adolescent and parent/caregiver. Once that is completed, PPC providers receive a summary report and review the safety plan with the patient and parent/caregiver, making revisions as needed. The provider then reviews treatment plan, including behavioral health referrals and schedules follow-up appointment. Next, the PPC provider/office staff enters referral recommendations and follow-up appointment reminders into iCHART's Text2Connect feature, which will increase engagement with the safety plan and facilitate adherence with treatment recommendations. Providers will approach patients and parents/caregivers about the research study during their office visit, and interested families will complete a permission to contact form for research staff. Research staff will contact and describe the study, answer any questions, and obtain parental consent/youth assent. Sample Size and Power Considerations Once usability testing is complete, 60 participants will be recruited from 4 practices randomized to begin utilizing iCHART during one of the 3-month intervention intervals. At the end of the trial, 30 participants will be enrolled when practices were delivering usual care and 30 participants will be enrolled when practices were delivering iCHART- cASAP. Sample size and power considerations center on the precision of confidence interval (CI) width estimation for feasibility outcomes. Based on best practices for feasibility studies, and given the sample size of 60 and 5% type I error rate, there is ability to estimate 95% confidence interval with margin-of-errors ≤0.33 for the primary outcomes of depression and suicidal thoughts and behaviors.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALiCHART/cASAP

When patients disclose suicidal ideation on the PHQ-9, the intervention of iCHART/cASAP will be implemented in the pediatrician's office, and in collaboration with parents, which includes safety planning, teaching skills to improve distress tolerance and emotion regulation all on the teen's smart device. iCHART/cASAP will include: Screening Wizard, a digital screening tool that will guide the provider to gauge patient satisfaction with current treatment and making further personalized treatment recommendations; cASAP, a computerized version of the As Safe As Possible intervention that focuses on psychoeducation in safety planning, distress tolerance, and emotion regulation skills; BRITE, a safety planning app with distress monitoring that a teen can be guided through with automated onboarding manuals; Text2Connect, an automated text messaging sent centrally to patients and parents to enhance treatment adherence.

BEHAVIORALTreatment as usual

When patients disclose suicidal ideation on the PHQ-9, a treatment as usual approach will be given to the patient and their parent by the pediatrician which includes a paper safety plan will be completed and given to the patient and a referral placed for the patient to begin behavioral health services.

Sponsors

University of Pittsburgh
Lead SponsorOTHER
Pediatric Research in Office Settings
CollaboratorNETWORK
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
CollaboratorNIH

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
SEQUENTIAL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
DOUBLE (Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)

Masking description

The assessor and the investigator will be blinded to whether or not the participant received the iCHART/cASAP intervention or if they are receiving treatment as usual.

Intervention model description

This study will utilize a stepped wedge design in which 4 PROS practices start with usual care initially and are randomly chosen to transition to iCHART-cASAP at different times in such a way as half of the participants will receive TAU and half will receive iCHART-cASAP. All sites will be initially monitored for at least 3 months during TAU. This will be followed by a staggered adoption of iCHART-cASAP. At each time period, a new site will begin implementing the intervention. Block randomization determines the order each site begins the intervention phase. Each time period (approximately 3 months), a web-based system will be used to assign the next clinic to begin using iCHART-cASAP. Research staff will be available to assist with consenting participants and assisting with study procedures.

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
12 Years to 17 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

Youth Inclusion: * 12-17 years old * Parent/legal guardian consents for youth to be in study * English fluency and literacy-own a smart phone or device * PHQ-9M score indicating moderate or severe depression or suicidal ideation in past month, past 2 weeks, or an attempt in their lifetime Caregiver/Parent inclusion: -English fluency and literacy Youth Exclusion: * evidence of intellectual delay * pervasive developmental disorder * other condition from medical history that would prohibit comprehension of questions or modules

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Suicidal ideation and behavior on PHQ-9MBaselineSuicidal ideation and attempt will be measured by 3 items on the PHQ-9-M (item #9 with scaled options of '0=not at all, 1=several days, 2=more than half the days, 3=nearly every day', past month ideation, prior suicide attempt) as a primary outcome.
Suicidal ideation and behavior on CSSRSBaselineSuicidal attempt \& ideation will be measured through the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS). Assign score of 0 if no ideation/behavior present and assign a score of 1 if ideation/behavior present. A "yes" answer any time during treatment to question 9 on the PHQ-9 indicates suicidal ideation. A "yes" answer any time during treatment to any 1 of the 5 suicidal behavior questions (Categories 7-10) on the C-SSRS. C-SSRS Categories 7-10 are as follows: 7-Aborted Attempt 8-Interrupted Attempt 9-Actual Attempt (non-fatal) 10-Completed Suicide. Any score greater than 0 is important/may indicate need for intervention.
Depression SeverityBaselineTotal scores from the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9-M) will be used to assess depression severity, as a primary outcome. The PHQ-9M uses scaled responses of '0=not at all, 1=several days, 2=more than half the days, 3=nearly every day'.
Application utilizationMonitored over 6 monthsUse of the iCHART-cASAP components and web portals will be monitored. Utilization will be measured by the number and proportion of adolescents, parents, and providers who have engaged with the application over time.
Service Utilization - SACABaselineFrequency and type of behavioral/mental health and primary care services using the Service Assessment for Children and Adolescents (SACA).
Patient Satisfaction6-month follow-upSatisfaction will be measured with the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire (CSQ). The scaled options for the CSQ vary as follows: Question 1: "4=Excellent, 3=Good, 2=Fair, 1=Poor" Question 2: "1=No, Definitely Not, 2=No, Not Really, 3=Yes, Generally, 4=Yes, Definitely" Question 3: "4=Almost all of my needs have been met, 3=Most of my needs have been met, 2=Only a few of my needs have been met, 1=None of my needs have been met" Question 4: "1=No, definitely not, 2=No, I don't think so, 3=Yes, I think so, 4=Yes, Definitely" Question 5: "1=Quite Dissatisfied, 2=Indifferent or mildly dissatisfied, 3=Mostly satisfied, 4=Very satisfied" Question 6: "4=Yes, they helped a great deal, 3=Yes, they helped somewhat, 2=No, they really didn't help, 1=No, they seemed to make things worse" Question 7: "4=Very satisfied, 3=Mostly satisfied, 2=Indifferent or mildly dissatisfied, 1=Quite dissatisfied" Question 8: "1=No, Definitely not, 2=No, I don't think so, 3=Yes, I think so, 4=Yes, Definitely
Acceptability6-month follow-upAcceptability of cASAP and the iCHART-cASAP intervention will be assessed through the Acceptability of Intervention Measure (AIM). The scaled options for the measure are: '1=Completely disagree, 2=Disagree, 3=Neither agree nor disagree, 4=Agree, 5=Completely agree'
Patient Usability6-month follow-upPatient usability will be measured by the Systems Usability Survey (SUS). The System Usability Scale uses scaled options of: '1=strongly disagree, 2=disagree, 3=neutral, 4=agree, 5=strongly agree'.
Provider Feasibility of Intervention Measure6-month follow-upProvider Feasibility will be measured using the Feasibility of Intervention Measure (FIM). The Feasibilty of Intervention Measure uses scaled options of: '1=Completely disagree, 2=Disagree, 3=Neither agree nor disagree, 4=Agree, 5=Completely agree'.
Provider Usability6-month follow-upSystem Usability Scale (SUS) will assess usability. The System Usability Scale uses scaled options of: '1=strongly disagree, 2=disagree, 3=neutral, 4=agree, 5=strongly agree'.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
StressBaselineStress will be measured by the Pediatric Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Psychological Stress Experiences 4- item Short Form. The scaled options for this measure are: '1=Never, 2=Rarely, 3=Sometimes, 4=Often, 5=Always'.

Countries

United States

Contacts

PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORStephanie Stepp

University of Pittsburgh

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Jun 5, 2026