ArticleBMC psychiatry2016
The epidemiology of self-harm in a UK-wide primary care patient cohort, 2001-2013.
Article in BMC psychiatry, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 56 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
56 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Machine learning algorithms and their predictive accuracy for suicide and self-harm: Systematic review and meta-analysis.PLoS medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Osteoporosis and fracture as risk factors for self-harm and suicide: a systematic review and meta-analysis.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2023Pooled it
- The barriers and facilitators to the reporting and recording of self-harm in young people aged 18 and under: a systematic review.BMC public health · 2023Pooled it
- Role of the GP in the management of patients with self-harm behaviour: a systematic review.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2020Pooled it
- Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement in a doctoral research project exploring self-harm in older adults.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2019Pooled it
- Trial
- Incidence trends and clinical management of self-harm in adolescents and young adults in catalonia: primary care cohort study (2013-2022).European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2026Article
- Incidence and prognostic factors of self-harm and subsequent unnatural death in South Africa: A cohort study.PLoS medicine · 2025Article
- Health and social care professionals' awareness and implementation of NICE guidelines on self-harm: a rapid review of the literature.BMJ open · 2025Review
- Initiation and stability of self-harm in adolescence and early adulthood: investigating social and aetiological factors in twins.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2025Article
- Results of a feasibility study of the FReSH START intervention to improve quality of life and other outcomes in people who repeatedly self-harm (Function REplacement in repeated Self-Harm: Standardising Therapeutic Assessment and the Related Therapy).Pilot and feasibility studies · 2025Article
- Randomised controlled trial of a brief theory-based online intervention to reduce self-harm.BJPsych open · 2025Article
- Emergency Department Use Following Self-Harm and Suicide Ideation: An Analysis of the Influence of Cultural and/or Linguistic Diversity Using Data From the Self-Harm Monitoring System for Victoria (2012-2019).International journal of mental health nursing · 2025Article
- Article
- Cost-effectiveness of psychological and psychosocial interventions for adults, children and young people who have self-harmed.BMJ mental health · 2024Article
- Care gaps among people presenting to the hospital following self-harm: observational study of three emergency departments in England.BMJ open · 2024Observational
- Exploring General Practitioners' Management of Self-Harm in Young People: A Qualitative Study.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2024Article
- Childhood cognitive ability and self-harm and suicide in later life.SSM - population health · 2024Article
- The CO-produced Psychosocial INtervention delivered by GPs to young people after self-harm (COPING): protocol for a feasibility study.NIHR open research · 2024Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundMost of the research conducted on people who harm themselves has been undertaken in secondary healthcare settings. Little is known about the frequency of self-harm in primary care patient populations. This is the first study to describe the epidemiology of self-harm presentations to primary care using broadly representative national data from across the United Kingdom (UK).
methodsUsing the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD), we calculated directly standardised rates of incidence and annual presentation during 2001-2013. Rates were compared by gender and age and across the nations of the UK, and also by degree of socioeconomic deprivation measured ecologically at general practice level.
resultsWe found significantly elevated rates in females vs. males for incidence (rate ratio - RR, 1.45, 95 % confidence interval - CI, 1.42-1.47) and for annual presentation (RR 1.56, CI 1.54-1.58). An increasing trend over time in incidence was apparent for males (P < 0.001) but not females (P = 0.08), and both genders exhibited rising temporal trends in presentation rates (P < 0.001). We observed a decreasing gradient of risk with increasing age and markedly elevated risk for females in the youngest age group (aged 15-24 years vs. all other females: RR 3.75, CI 3.67-3.83). Increasing presentation rates over time were observed for males across all age bands (P < 0.001). We found higher rates when comparing Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales with England, and increasing rates of presentation over time for all four nations. We also observed higher rates with increasing levels of deprivation - most vs. least deprived male patients: RR 2.17, CI 2.10-2.25.
conclusionsIncorporating data from primary care yields a more comprehensive quantification of the health burden of self-harm. These novel findings may be useful in informing public health programmes and the targeting of high-risk groups toward the ultimate goal of lowering risk of self-harm repetition and premature death in this population.
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