Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Jun;38(2):116-122.
doi: 10.1017/ipm.2020.116. Epub 2020 Sep 30.

COVID-19 and its effect on emergency presentations to a tertiary hospital with self-harm in Ireland

A McIntyre  1 , K Tong  1 , E McMahon  1 , A M Doherty  2   3
Affiliations

COVID-19 and its effect on emergency presentations to a tertiary hospital with self-harm in Ireland

A McIntyre et al. Ir J Psychol Med. 2021 Jun.

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to assess the impact of COVID-19 on presentations to an acute hospital with self-harm.

Methods: All presentations to University Hospital Galway with self-harm were assessed during the peak period of the coronavirus crisis in Ireland, over the 3 months from 1 March to 31 May 2020. These data were compared with presentations in the same months in the 3 years preceding (2017-2019). Data were obtained from the anonymised service database.

Results: This study found that in 2020, the rate of presentation with self-harm dropped by 35% from March to April and rose by 104% from April to May, peaking from mid-May. When trends over a 4-year period were examined, there was a significantly higher lethality of attempt (p < 0.001), and significant differences in diagnosis (p = 0.031) in 2020 in comparison with the three previous years. The increased lethality of presentations remained significant after age and gender were controlled for (p = 0.036). There were also significant differences in the underlying psychiatric diagnoses (p = 0.018), notably with a significant increase in substance misuse disorders presenting during the 2020 study period.

Conclusions: COVID-19 showed a reduction in self-harm presentations initially, followed by a sharp increase in May 2020. If a period of economic instability follows as predicted, it is likely that this will further impact the mental health of the population, along with rates of self-harm and suicidal behaviours. There is a need for research into the longer-term effect of COVID-19 and lockdown restrictions, especially with respect to self-harm.

Keywords: COVID-19; Self-harm; attempted; psychiatry; self-injurious behaviour; suicide.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Authors [MA, TK, ME and DAM] have no conflicts of interest to report.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Self-harm presentations by month March–May over 4 years 2017–2020.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Self-harm presentations by week March–May compared with mean 2017–2019.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Bostwick JM, Pabbati C, Geske JR, McKean AJ (2016). Suicide attempt as a risk factor for completed suicide: even more lethal than we knew. American Journal of Psychiatry 173, 1094–1100. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Carroll R, Metcalfe C, Gunnell D (2014). Hospital presenting self-harm and risk of fatal and non-fatal repetition: systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS One 9, e89944. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Chan SM, Chiu FK, Lam CW, Leung PY, Conwell Y (2006). Elderly suicide and the 2003 SARS epidemic in Hong Kong. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 21, 113–118. - PubMed
    1. Chesney E, Goodwin GM, Fazel, S (2014). Risks of all-cause and suicide mortality in mental disorders: a meta-review. World Psychiatry 13, 153–160. - PMC - PubMed
    1. CovidwatchIrl (2020). Covidwatch Cases and Deaths. University of Limerick: Limerick, Ireland.