Citation

Hartvig P, Roaldset JO, Moger TA, Ostberg B, Bjørkly S. Eur. Psychiatry 2011; 26(2): 92-99.

Affiliation

Centre for Research and Education in Forensic Psychiatry, Ullevål University Hospital, Bygg 7, Gaustad, 0320 Oslo, Norway.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.eurpsy.2010.01.003

PMID

20456927

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Instruments for evaluating the risk of violence towards others have mostly been developed for assessment of risk for recidivism into violent crime in forensic psychiatry. In general psychiatry there is a considerable need for specialised, brief and structured assessment tools to inform risk decisions. METHOD: The study aimed to validate a brief structured clinical risk assessment screen of inpatient violence (V-RISK-10), a 10-item structured clinical checklist with a good vignette-based interrater reliability (ICC=0.87). In this study it was used for risk assessment of a one-year sample of patients (N=1.017) admitted to two acute psychiatric units. Risk assessments at admission were compared to prospective records of aggressive and violent acts during the hospital stay. RESULTS: Results showed a base rate for aggression of 9%. The predictive validity of the V-RISK-10 was estimated by Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC). It yielded an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.83, with sensitivity/specificity of 0.81/0.73 and corresponding positive and negative predictive values (PPV/NPV) of 0.24/0.97. The screen was easy-to-use and showed a short completion time. CONCLUSION: Despite promising results further validation studies are required before the V-RISK-10 is adopted into routine clinical practise.

Language: en