Implementing Suicide Risk Screening As a Part of Routine Cancer Care.

216 Background: Head and neck cancer (HNC) patients are at increased risk for suicide. Few studies have tested approaches to preventing suicide in this population, such as routine suicide risk screening. To address this issue, the current study pilots and assesses the feasibility and implementation of a suicide risk screening program for HNC patients at a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center. Methods: Routine screening was implemented at all in-person visits in the HNC clinic from February 1, 2021 – January 31, 2022 using the PHQ-9. Patients with passive suicidal ideation were consequently screened by social work for active suicidal ideation. Results: Most (92.6% or 1519/1641) HNC patients with a scheduled in-person visit completed at least one suicide risk screening; 9,968 screenings were completed (mean: 3.7; SD: 3.8 per patient) in total. Among patients who were screened, 3% (49/1519) of HNC patients reported passive suicidal ideation and 0.3% (5/1519) were identified as having active suicidal ideation. Patients with five or more visits were more likely to participate in screening compared with patients who only had one visit during the study period (100% vs. 82.7%; P