Development of a Suicidal Thoughts Survey for Epidemiological Consultation Response

Background: The purpose of the survey was to derive a hypothesis for the investigation of a cluster of suicides among soldiers in the U.S. Army. In particular, this survey was developed to estimate the prevalence of suicidal thoughts in the population, identify risk factors for suicidal thoughts, and assess awareness of current mental/behavioral health resources. Methodology: The anonymous, one-page survey was developed using Cardiff Teleform. A random sample of at least 1500 people was necessary to ensure the results were representative of the population. Results: A total of 2355 people responded to the survey, of which 138 reported recent or current suicidal thoughts. The number of military deployments was relatively equal between those reporting and not reporting suicidal thoughts. While deployment status and history did not seem to have a large effect on suicide ideation, a large difference was noticed when comparing groups who answered questions regarding operational tempo. In fact, 33% of those who reported suicidal ideation answered that operational tempo had an extreme impact on their mental health as compared to only 6% of the non-suicidal ideation group. Discussion: The survey developed and used in this mental health investigation proved to be an extraordinarily useful tool. Some problems did develop during data analysis, such as the date of birth field proved useless. Completion of the survey, however, was very quick and data analysis seemed relatively simple since the coding of variables was established before the survey was utilized.