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AbstractThe purpose of this study was to ascertain the degree of suicide ideation among 9th through 12th graders within a statewide region. Twenty-five schools were randomly selected from all state school districts and 549 students were surveyed (females n=290 and males n=259) following active parental consent. Parental consent, anonymity, and confidentiality was stressed orally and adhered to as stipulated by the University Human Subject Review Board. Additionally, confidentiality of the participating schools was maintained. Dependent variables (thinking about, seriously planning, attempting, and being treated for suicide) were calculated for the eight grade/gender combinations and analyzed separately using analysis of variance methods. The pooled error variance term was used as the denominator in all analysis of variance F tests. Results of the analysis revealed a significantly higher probability of 9th and 10th grade girls in thinking about, seriously planning, and attempting suicide. Further, all female respondents were significantly more likely than boys to think about and seriously plan suicide. Of those who had been treated by a medical attendant for attempted suicide, no significant difference between grades or genders existed. It was concluded that parents and professionals most near the potential suicide victim become familiar with state and national adolescent suicide norms and learn how to identify typical adolescent suicidal behavior.

Background: Traditional clinical outcomes have demonstrated that salmeterol improves pulmonary function and reduces asthma symptoms. However, they do not evaluate how patients perceive the effect of therapeutic intervention on day-to-day functioning and well-being. Objective: We sought to evaluate the impact of salmeterol on disease-specific quality of life with the Asthma Quality-of-Life Questionnaire, as well as the efficacy and safety of salmeterol in patients with stable asthma who were symptomatic despite daily use of inhaled corticosteroids. Methods: This was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study of 506 patients. Patients were treated with 42 @mg salmeterol or placebo twice daily for 12 weeks delivered through a metered dose inhaler. Results: Mean change from baseline in asthma quality-of-life scores was significantly greater (p @? 0.006) after 12 weeks of treatment with salmeterol compared with placebo (''as-needed'' albuterol) in global scores (1.08 vs 0.61) and individual domains (activity limitations, 0.91 vs 0.54; asthma symptoms, 1.28 vs 0.71; emotional function, 1.17 vs 0.65; and environmental exposure, 0.84 vs 0.47). Patients treated with salmeterol experienced significantly greater improvements from baseline to week 12 compared with placebo in FEV"1 (0.42 L vs 0.15 L, p < 0.001), morning peak expiratory flow (47 L/min vs 14 L/min, p < 0.001), evening peak expiratory flow (29 L/min vs 11 L/min, p < 0.001), and asthma symptom scores (daytime scores reduced by 0.55 vs 0.30, p < 0.001). Patients treated with salmeterol used significantly less supplemental albuterol (reduced by 3 puffs/day vs 1 puff/day, p < 0.001). Conclusion: Salmeterol provided significantly greater improvement in quality-of-life outcomes in patients whose asthma symptoms are not well controlled with inhaled corticosteroids. These results demonstrate that the benefits of salmeterol are not limited to conventional clinical measures of efficacy. (J Allergy Clin Immunol 1998;101:185-95.)