Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29943610›Full record

ArticleAfrican journal of primary health care & family medicine2018

Chronic substance use and self-harm in a primary health care setting.

Elsie Breet, Jason Bantjes, Ian Lewis

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in African journal of primary health care & family medicine, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Elsie BreetDepartment of Psychology, Stellenbosch University. elsie@sun.ac.za.
Jason Bantjes
Ian Lewis

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundChronic substance use (CSU) is associated with health problems, including selfharm, placing a significant burden on health care resources and emergency departments (EDs). This is problematic in low- and middle-income countries like South Africa (SA), where primary care facilitates and emergency departments (EDs) are often poorly resourced.

aimTo investigate the epidemiology of CSU and self-harm and to consider the implications for primary health care service delivery and suicide prevention in SA.

methodsData were collected from 238 consecutive self-harm patients treated at the emergency department (ED) of an urban hospital in SA. The data were analysed using bivariate and multivariate analyses.

resultsApproximately 37% of self-harm patients reported CSU. The patients in the CSU subgroup, compared to other self-harm patients, were more likely to be men (odds ratio[OR] = 8.33, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 3.19-20.9, p < 0.001), to have self-harmed by inflicting damage to their body tissue OR = 4.45, 95% CI = 1.77-11.2, p < 0.01) and to have a history of self-harm (OR = 3.71, 95% CI = 1.44-9.54, p = 0.007). A significantly smaller proportion of CSU patients, compared to other self-harm patients, were referred for psychiatric assessment (OR = 8.05, 95% CI = 4.16-15.7, p < 0.001).

conclusionThe findings of this study confirm that CSU is associated with greater service utilisation and repetition of self-harm among patients in primary health care settings. Treating self-harm as the presenting problem within primary care settings does not necessarily ensure that patients receive the care that they need. It might be helpful to include psychiatric assessments and screening for CSU as an integral component of care for self-harm patientswho present in primary health care settings.

Indexed as

Emergency Service, HospitalPrimary Health CareAdolescentAdultAgedAged, 80 and overDelivery of Health CareDeveloping CountriesFemaleHospitalsHumansMaleMiddle AgedOdds RatioPatient Acceptance of Health CareSelf-Injurious Behaviorprimary care service utilisationself-harmsubstance abusesuicidal behaviour

Identifiers

PMID29943610
PMCPMC6018521

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.