title: Characteristics of Telephone Crisis Hotline Callers with Suicidal Ideation in Japan.
abstract: Hotline callers do not always have suicidal ideation and previous studies have noted that the rate of such callers is limited. Crisis hotline counselors must be able to identify high-risk callers in order to provide appropriate support. This study investigated the characteristics of Japanese crisis hotline callers in 2012 (N = 541,694) and is the first to analyze crisis hotline data for all parts of Japan over 1 year. About 14% of the callers had suicidal ideation and 6% had a history of attempted suicide. The odds ratio for suicidal ideation among those with a history of attempted suicide was 15.5. The suicidal ideation rate was much smaller compared to previous studies in other countries. There is a psychological barrier that must be broken for high-risk people to use support hotlines. In addition, attempted suicide is a strong exclusive predisposing factor for death due to suicide; therefore, counselors should pay careful attention to callers with a history of attempted suicide. The characteristics of Japanese crisis hotline callers and the features of suicidal ideation revealed in the present study are expected to be useful in developing telephone crisis hotline strategies.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuh
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ohtaki
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Oi
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan.|King's College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Shotaro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Doki
authors.affiliation: Soubu Hospital, Funabashi, Japan.
authors.forename: Hidetoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kaneko
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Usami
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan.
authors.forename: Shinichiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sasahara
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan.|International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan.
authors.forename: Ichiyo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Matsuzaki
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D003419:Crisis Intervention / Q000379:methods*; D000068237:Distance Counseling / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D015277:Hotlines / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D059020:Suicidal Ideation; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000092864:Suicide Prevention