Surveillance of Hospital-Presenting Intentional Self-Harm in Western Sydney, Australia, During the Implementation of a New Self-Harm Reporting Field.
Crisis
; 44(2): 135-145, 2023 Mar.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-35138153
ABSTRACT
Background:
Hospital-presenting self-harm is a strong predictor of suicide and has substantial human and health service costs.Aims:
We aimed to identify changes in case ascertainment after implementation of a new self-harm reporting field at a tertiary hospital in New South Wales, and to report event rates, demographic, and clinical characteristics.Method:
Self-harm events presenting to the emergency department (October 2017 to August 2020) were identified using clinical documentation and a new reporting field. Changes in the frequency of self-harm in the period after implementation of the self-harm field were assessed through Poisson regression models.Results:
A twofold increase in the frequency of self-harm was detected following the implementation of the new reporting field. The annual average age-standardized event rate of self-harm was 110.4 per 100,000 (120.8 per 100,000 for females; 100.1 per 100,000 for males). The highest rates by age and sex were for females aged 15-19 years (375 per 100,000) and males aged 20-24 years (175 per 100,000).Limitations:
Self-harm identification relies on clinician coding practice, which is subject to variability and potential under-enumeration.Conclusion:
These findings highlight the value of a self-harm reporting field in hospital record systems for accurate recording and long-term monitoring of self-harm event rates.Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Suicide
/
Self-Injurious Behavior
Type of study:
Prognostic_studies
/
Screening_studies
Limits:
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Country/Region as subject:
Oceania
Language:
En
Journal:
Crisis
Year:
2023
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Australia