The predictive validation of a suicide intent scale: a five year follow-up.

Five hundred patients who had completed a suicide intent scale after self injury were followed up over five years. Seven definite and six doubtful suicides occurred. The future suicides tended to have high scores on the scale for their original self injury episodes and had very high scores for the penultimate self injury before suicide. Discussion centres on the small number of suicides ascertained and on the use of the scale as a suicide predictor. A group of very high risk patients was identified by repeated use of the scale, and the suggestion is made that the scale might be used as part of a suicide prevention programme.