The content validity of the 18 mQSF items was ascertained by asking 25 medical and nursing education experts from Switzerland, Germany and Austria to rank the importance of each item on a four-point rating scale (1 = not at all important; 4 = very important), using an online survey tool.
The follow-up for the patients who returned a non-zero score on the suicide-ideation item was ascertained only by interviewing the practice nurses concerned to maintain patient confidentiality.
Self-reported depression and arthritis were ascertained using items from the Self-Administered Comorbidity Questionnaire (SACQ), a reliable and valid comorbidity measure that is widely used in orthopedic research [ 23].
Potential prevalent cases of non-fatal myocardial infarction were ascertained by questionnaire items on chest pain [55] and the physician's diagnosis of a heart attack.
Future childbearing plans were ascertained via a seven-item closed question (Table 1 ).
Life events were ascertained using an 11 item questionnaire (derived from [ 29]).
Mood and cognitive status were ascertained using the ten-item Geriatric Depression Scale [ 25], and the Mini-Mental State Examination [ 26], respectively.
Almost all physical activity data were ascertained using self-report questionnaires, with considerable reliance on single-item questions 24,26,30,32,35 38,40 (n=9) and custom questionnaires 22,27,29,31,33,39 (n=6) of unknown validity.
All items returned from the query were screened and information related to the victims and details of the incidents, including time of day and distance from residence, were ascertained from the newspaper reports and analyzed using descriptive statistics.
Treatment and follow-up information were ascertained.
