Introduction:
Clinical guidelines are an important instrument of quality assurance in the medical field. In contrast to other countries, Germany does not yet have a guideline for the management of suicidality. However, it is difficult to apply and transfer health care guidelines on suicidality from other countries to the German situation due to the different health care systems. In 2020, the Federal Joint Committee ("Gemeinsamer Bundesausschuss") provided funding to support health services research and is supporting the development of the "Management of Suicidality" guideline (registration number 038-028).
Methodology:
Once the key questions have been selected, a systematic search is conducted in a defined set of databases. GRADE and AMSTAR-2 will be used to assess the quality of full-text articles, and gaps in the evidence will be filled with expert knowledge. Finally, recommendations for the management of suicidality in different outpatient and clinical contexts will be developed, presented and agreed in consensus conferences.
Results:
After defining the key questions and associated search criteria, guideline texts are written on the basis of evidence and interdisciplinary consensus. These include the prevention of suicide, the clinical treatment of people at risk of suicide, therapy and follow-up.
Conclusion:
More than 99% of members of the German parliament voted in favour of a motion to strengthen suicide prevention. Strengthening suicide prevention must include a national strategy and regulations. This new high-quality guideline will help to ensure that patients receive appropriate treatment and care.