Health professionals' attitudes regarding suicide or patients exhibiting suicidal behavior are critical for effective patient intervention and support. These attitudes have a substantial impact on the quality of care offered and the outcomes for patients who exhibit suicidal behavior. Patients with suicidal conduct are increasingly being treated by health professionals in the psychiatry, medical, accident/emergency, and surgery departments, but little is known about these professionals’ attitudes toward and understanding of suicidal people. Thus, the study aimed to translate and establish psychometric features of an attitudinal measure, the Understanding Suicidal Patients (USP) scale, as well as to evaluate differences in health professionals' willingness to treat and understanding of suicidal patients. Following author approval, the USP scale was translated into Urdu utilizing both forward and backward method. Purposive sampling was used to collect data, and 220 health professionals anonymously completed the Understanding Suicidal Patients scale in accordance with the inclusion criteria. Psychometric characteristics, factor analysis, and one-way ANOVA were calculated. According to the reliability analysis, the Understanding Suicidal Patients scale has acceptable Cronbach's alpha values. Inter-item correlations and item total correlation are likewise within acceptable limits. One factor structure similar to the original scale showed evidence for the Understanding Suicidal Patients scale's construct validity using factor analysis, albeit with marginal degree of fit indices. Furthermore, a post-hoc analysis using the Tukey test revealed that health professionals working in the psychiatry department have a higher mean score for understanding suicidal patients than those working in the accident and emergency department, medical department, and surgical department. The results imply that the USP scale can be a useful measure for assessing health professionals' readiness to treat and understanding of suicidal individuals. Furthermore, addressing suicide training programs and mental health among health providers other than psychiatry may enhance knowledge, minimize stigma, and so plays a role in preventing suicide.

Key Words: Suicide, Understanding Suicidal Patients, Suicidal Behavior, Health Professionals