V-RISK-10: validation of a screen for risk of violence after discharge from acute psychiatry.
BACKGROUND
Current violence risk assessment instruments are time-consuming and mainly developed for forensic psychiatry. A paucity of violence screens for acute psychiatry instigated the development and validation of the V-RISK-10. The aim of this prospective naturalistic study was to test the predictive validity of the V-RISK-10 as a screen of violence risk after discharge from two acute psychiatric wards.


METHODS
Patients were screened with V-RISK-10 before discharge, and incidents of violence were recorded 3, 6, 9 and 12 months after discharge. A total of 381 of the 1017 patients that were screened completed the follow up.


RESULTS
The ROC-AUC values for any violent behaviour were 0.80 and 0.75 (p<0.001) for the 3 and 12 months follow-up periods, respectively, and significant for both genders. The most accurate risk estimates were obtained for severe violence. For persons without a known history of violence prior to the screening, AUCs were 0.74 (p=0.004) and 0.68 (p=0.002).


CONCLUSIONS
Results indicate that the V-RISK-10 is a valid and clinically useful screen for violence risk after discharge from acute psychiatry, and even significant for patients without a known previous history of violence.
Roaldset
J O
JO
Psychiatric Department, Ålesund Hospital, Norway. johnolr@gmail.com
Hartvig
P
P
Bjørkly
S
S
D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D003134:Commitment of Persons with Psychiatric Disorders; D003617:Dangerous Behavior; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005555:Forensic Psychiatry / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010351:Patient Discharge / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010552:Personality Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods; D014754:Violence / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult