15/11

PERMANENS: Enabling precision medicine software for personalized suicide risk assessment and management to the emergency department

IMIM Press 15/11/2023

The PERMANENS research project is dedicated to creating a prototype of medical software that will help doctors offer personalized assessments and cures to patients arriving in emergencies with a high risk of self-harm or suicide. This precision medicine software will harness the power of artificial intelligence to provide more accurate risk assessments and access to evidence-based information, identifying effective treatment options tailored to the unique needs and risk profile of each patient.

Many people, especially young people, suffer episodes of self-harm, but a significant number do not receive the treatment they need, leaving them at risk of suicide. Emergency services play a crucial role in addressing this problem, as they are often the first point of contact with medical professionals after an episode of self-harm. However, relying solely on clinical assessments and standardized scales is inadequate to accurately identify patients at higher risk of recurrent self-harm and suicide.

The PERMANENS project, focusing on the analysis of data from transnational registries, the development of accurate risk prediction models and the creation of a clinical knowledge base on evidence-based interventions, aims to facilitate personalized attention and timely interventions. Building on these advances, the initiative aims to effectively prevent adverse outcomes among people struggling with self-harm. The prototype software will be developed in collaboration with patients and doctors to ensure ease of use, practicality and acceptance. By adapting interventions to each person's specific needs, PERMANENS increases the likelihood that patients will initiate and maintain effective mental health treatment. With these efforts, the initiative aims to significantly reduce self-harm and suicide rates among the population.

The PERMANENS consortium is coordinated by the Hospital de Mar Research Institute in Barcelona and its principal investigator is Philippe Mortier, from the centre's health services research group. It is also formed by the University of Oslo (Norway) with the principal researcher Ping Qin, the Karolinska Institute (Sweden) with Johan Bjureberg, the University College Cork-*National Suicide Research Foundation (Ireland) with Ella Arensman and the Pompeu Fabra University (Barcelona) with Manuel Pastor, Ferran Sanz, Miguel Ángel Mayer and Juan Manuel Ramírez, members of the GRIB. The consortium brings together expertise in clinical research in mental health, public health, biostatistics and biomedical informatics.

The Hospital de Mar Research Institute leads this project with the support of partner institutions.

More information about PERMANENS is available on the official website: www.permanens.eu.