ASQ - screening for suicidal risk in children and adolescents

Child and adolescent suicide is a serious public health problem in many countries. Early identification and treatment of individuals at high suicidal risk (SR) is a key strategy for suicide prevention. Therefore, timely and high-quality diagnostics of SR is especially important. Aim: to present the ASQ method for SR screening in children and adolescents. Description of the method. The ASQ was developed by a team of US research institutes and hospitals to assess SR in children and adolescents attending the emergency department. The requirements for the instrumentation are described, the characteristics of the reliability and validity of the ASQ test are given, and the safety of its use in pediatric practice is shown. The conditions, procedure and requirements for testing are described. A detailed algorithm for screening children and adolescents at the stage of primary, secondary and final diagnostics is presented. The advantages of the method and the possibility of its use in medical institutions of our country are shown. Conclusions. ASQ screening is a professional tool for assessing suicidal risk in children and adolescents. It has proven effectiveness, is easy to use, and does not require significant financial costs. ASQ screening can be carried out in regions where high rates of suicide among children and adolescents are recorded, including in the national regions of the Russia.