Concordance between the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale and Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation in assessing suicide behaviour in young adults with schizophrenia spectrum disorders

•The study aims to determine the accuracy of the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale in comparison to the Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideation (BSS) in the schizophrenia population.•The difference in the accuracy was not statistically significant for these two scales.•The results indicate that there are no significant differences in asking about past suicide history by self-report or by an interviewer. The Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C–SSRS) is considered the gold standard for collecting information on suicidal ideation and behavior by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the United States. To determine the accuracy of the C-SSRS compared to the Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideation (BSS) for collecting suicide attempt history in the schizophrenia population, 202 participants aged 18–40 with schizophrenia spectrum disorders were administered the C-SSRS, followed by the BSS. Medical charts were reviewed to confirm the lifetime history of actual suicide attempts. The BSS had an 83.5% accuracy in reporting single suicide attempts and 81.7% for multiple suicide attempts; while the C-SSRS had 84.1% and 83.9% accuracy respectively. This difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.849). Both the BSS and C-SSRS demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity in collecting suicide attempt history for young patients with psychosis, with no significant differences. Future investigators may choose the scale that is best suited to the level of detail required.