Observational studyInternational journal of psychiatry in medicine2021
The effect of COVID-19 lockdown on the incidence of deliberate self-harm injuries presenting to the emergency room.
Observational study in International journal of psychiatry in medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Access and use of general and mental health services before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ open · 2025Pooled it
- Paracetamol Overdoses Among Danish Adolescents: A COVID-19 Perspective.Acta paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992) · 2025Observational
- Changes in psychiatric admissions in the first year of COVID-19 in Ontario, Canada.International journal of mental health systems · 2025Article
- The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on presentations with suicidal behaviour in a tertiary hospital Emergency Centre in the Eastern Cape, South Africa-A cross-sectional analysis.African journal of emergency medicine : Revue africaine de la medecine d'urgence · 2024Article
- Frequency, Risk Factors, and Methods of Deliberate Self-Harm Observed in Medical Students and Doctors in Pakistan.Cureus · 2024Article
- Using machine learning to mine mental health diagnostic groups from emergency department presentations before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.Discover mental health · 2023Article
- Impact of nationwide COVID-19 lockdown on workload and injury patterns of major trauma cases in a regional trauma centre in Singapore.Singapore medical journal · 2023Article
- Assessing the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on ambulance transports for self-harm: a population-based study in Osaka Prefecture, Japan.BMJ open · 2023Observational
- 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
- Article
- Article
- Risk and protective factors for new-onset binge eating, low weight, and self-harm symptoms in >35,000 individuals in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic.The International journal of eating disorders · 2023Article
- Analysis of all non-fatal self-harm cases in an urban area of Japan during pre- and peri-pandemic periods of COVID-19: a population-based study.Environmental health and preventive medicine · 2023Article
- Article
- Observational
- Developing, Deploying, and Evaluating Digital Mental Health Interventions in Spaces of Online Help- and Information-Seeking.Procedia computer science · 2022Article
- Editorial: COVID-19: Mid- and Long-Term Educational and Psychological Consequences for Students and Educators.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Article
- The complex picture of self-harm during the COVID-19 pandemic.The Lancet regional health. Europe · 2021Article
- Hospitalization for self-harm during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic in France: A nationwide retrospective observational cohort study.The Lancet regional health. Europe · 2021Article
- Injury patterns of patients with upper limb and hand trauma sustained during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in the UK: a retrospective cohort study.Hand surgery & rehabilitation · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveThe World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic on 11th March 2020. The UK government introduced strict social distancing measures on 23rd March 2020, with the country put into a full lockdown to further halt the spread of the virus.The aims of this article are to ascertain whether there was a rise in the incidence of deliberate self-harm (DSH) presentations to the emergency department at a level one trauma center associated with the introduction of lockdown measures.
methodAn observational study from a level one trauma center was carried out. Retrospective data from 23rd March 2020 to 1st May 2020 was collected and compared to the same time period in 2019. Data was collected from coded electronic patient records.
resultsTotal attendances to the Emergency Department (ED) reduced from 2019 to 2020 (5198 and 3059 respectively). There was a significant increase in the total number of self-harm presentations between 2019 and 2020 (103 vs 113, p-value <0.001) as well as paracetamol, NSAID and opiate overdoses, with more cases requiring hospital admission in 2020 vs 2019.
conclusionsSocietal lockdown measures secondary to the COVID-19 pandemic have had a significant effect on the mental health of patients. One way this can be detected is through an increased incidence and severity of deliberate self-harm injuries presenting to the ED. These findings, in conjunction with the available, literature provide valuable implications for community and emergency physicians and psychiatrists for any future wave of disease or pandemic.
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