Developing an Attitude Scale Towards Attempted Suicide Cases for Evaluating Emergency Medical Teams (ASETSA)

Objective: Suicide attempt is one of the most important risk factors for completed suicide, and generally, the first intervention is performed in the emergency department. The attitudes of health professionals towards suicide attempt cases affect their treatment and medical care. There is no related attitude assessment scale for health professionals in Turkey. The aim of this study was to develop a scale for assessing the attitudes of emergency medical teams towards cases of attempted suicide. Methods: In this methodological, epidemiological study, a pool of 140 items was compiled using a previously developed similar scale available in the literature, as well as, testimonies of health professionals. Two hundred and fifty-one doctors, nurses and emergency medical technicians from 14 local hospitals in Sanhurfa were included in this study. Surface validity was determined using the Lawshe content validity index and ratio. Factor analysis (principal components) was used to evaluate structural validity and internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha), and test-retest reliability was analyzed. Results: The mean age of the study cohort was 27.9 +/- 5.15 years, and 50% of the participants were female. A 28-entry attitude scale, which explained 58.5% of the total variance, was developed, including subscales for prevention and protection, individual help, institutional help, triggers and psychopathology casual attributions, and medical help. The Cronbach's alpha parameter of the scale was 0.84. In test-retest analysis; there is no significant difference between point averages of the first and last application of the scale. Conclusion: The psychometric features of the developed scale were determined to be acceptable.