Validation of the Chinese version of the Scale for Suicide Ideation-Worst in adult patients with epilepsy

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to validate the Chinese version of the Scale for Suicide Ideation-Worst (SSI-W) for screening suicide ideation in Chinese adult patients with epilepsy (PWE).

Method: A consecutive sample of Chinese adult PWE from a tertiary hospital completed the SSI-W and the suicidality module of the Chinese version of the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) Plus 5.0.0.

Results: A total of 269 PWE completed the scales. According to the MINI, 59 patients (21.9%) had suicidal ideation. The Cronbach's α coefficient for the SSI-W was 0.96. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed that the area under the curve (AUC) for the SSI-W was 0.957 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.935-0.980). With a cutoff score of 2 points, the SSI-W demonstrated the best psychometric properties: a sensitivity of 95.8%, a specificity of 87.3%, a positive predictive value (PPV) of 56.7%, and a negative predictive value (NPV) of 99.0%. The scores for items 11 (Reason for attempt) and 18 (Final acts) were not significantly different (p > 0.05) in patients with suicidal ideation, while the scores for the other items were significantly different between these groups of patients.

Conclusion: The Chinese version of the SSI-W proved to be a reliable and effective assessment tool for screening suicidal ideation in Chinese adult PWE.

Keywords: Epilepsy; Scale for Suicide Ideation-Worst (SSI-W); Suicide ideation; Validation.