General practitioners training about suicide prevention and risk: A systematic review of literature

Abstract

Objectives: In France, too few general practitioners (GP) follow the training about suicide prevention and risk. This study aimed at reviewing international publications regarding GP's training on suicide risk, in order to inform us about the training practices in the world and potentially discover new methodologies.

Methods: We performed bibliographic databases searches on GPs training about suicide prevention and risk, for practicing GPs, excluding studies about particular population groups, following the PRISMA statement guidelines. Training duration, educational program, content, time of assessment, tools, and information about train the trainers or kirkpatrick's level were identified for each selected study.

Results: This review revealed that there is no consensus on the training program or on the assessment tools in GP's training about suicide prevention and risk. Nevertheless, it reveals a similar framework including a theoretical part, with a fundamental knowledge content, and an interactive part.

Conclusion: If reaching standardized training practices seems difficult to achieve, standardizing assessment tools might be a relevant purpose. Indeed, using the same tools would allow proper training comparison. Practically speaking, this review inspired us in the implementation of in situ training and convincing us to undertake a French translation of an assessment scale.