ArticleThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2018
Poisoning substances taken by young people: a population-based cohort study.
Article in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 28 citations in OpenAlex.
- A systematic review of adolescent alcohol-related harm trends in high-income countries with declines in adolescent consumption.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2025Pooled it
- Did the COVID-19 pandemic impact on time trends in self-poisoning in youth? A sex-specific national register-based interrupted time-series analysis in Sweden.The British journal of clinical psychology · 2026Article
- Study of Behaviors Related to Over-the-Counter Medications, in Particular Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs, in the General Polish Population.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Smartphone Biosensors for Non-Invasive Drug Monitoring in Saliva.Biosensors · 2025Article
- Demographic and clinical profile of young adult emergency ward patients in Serbia who attempted suicide by poisoning during the COVID-19 pandemic: a retrospective cohort study.Arhiv za higijenu rada i toksikologiju · 2025Article
- How GPs can help young people avoid future self-harm: a qualitative study.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2024Article
- 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
- Trends and Prevalence of Hospital Admissions Related to Deliberate Self-Poisoning and Used Substances in Romanian Adolescents between 2016 and 2022.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- The potential of general practice to support young people who self-harm: a narrative review.BJGP open · 2022Article
- Incidence, Mortality and Survival in Young People with Co-Occurring Mental Disorders and Substance Use: A Retrospective Linked Routine Data Study in Wales.Clinical epidemiology · 2022Article
- Experiences of general practice care for self-harm: a qualitative study of young people's perspectives.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2021Article
- Acute lethal poisonings in children: a 10-year retrospective study of the Moscow Region, Russia.Journal of public health research · 2021Article
- Analyses of Child and Youth Self-Poisoning Hospitalizations by Substance and Socioeconomic Status.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Adolescent Intentional Ingestions in a Community Hospital.Hospital pediatrics · 2020Article
- Reducing risk following self-harm: the need for careful prescribing.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundGlobally, poisonings account for most medically-attended self-harm. Recent data on poisoning substances are lacking, but are needed to inform self-harm prevention.
aimTo assess poisoning substance patterns and trends among 10-24-year-olds across England DESIGN AND
settingOpen cohort study of 1 736 527 young people, using linked Clinical Practice Research Datalink, Hospital Episode Statistics, and Office for National Statistics mortality data, from 1998 to 2014.
methodPoisoning substances were identified by ICD-10 or Read Codes. Incidence rates and adjusted incidence rate ratios (aIRR) were calculated for poisoning substances by age, sex, index of multiple deprivation, and calendar year.
resultsIn total, 40 333 poisoning episodes were identified, with 57.8% specifying the substances involved. The most common substances were paracetamol (39.8%), alcohol (32.7%), non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) (11.6%), antidepressants (10.2%), and opioids (7.6%). Poisoning rates were highest at ages 16-18 years for females and 19-24 years for males. Opioid poisonings increased fivefold from 1998-2014 (females: aIRR 5.30, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 4.08 to 6.89; males: aIRR 5.11, 95% CI = 3.37 to 7.76), antidepressant poisonings three-to fourfold (females: aIRR 3.91, 95% CI = 3.18 to 4.80, males: aIRR 2.70, 95% CI = 2.04 to 3.58), aspirin/NSAID poisonings threefold (females: aIRR 2.84, 95% CI = 2.40 to 3.36, males: aIRR 2.76, 95% CI = 2.05 to 3.72) and paracetamol poisonings threefold in females (aIRR 2.87, 95% CI = 2.58 to 3.20). Across all substances poisoning incidence was higher in more disadvantaged groups, with the strongest gradient for opioid poisonings among males (aIRR 3.46, 95% CI = 2.24 to 5.36).
conclusionIt is important that GPs raise awareness with families of the substances young people use to self-harm, especially the common use of over-the-counter medications. Quantities of medication prescribed to young people at risk of self-harm and their families should be limited, particularly analgesics and antidepressants.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.