ArticleEClinicalMedicine2021
Temporal trends in primary care-recorded self-harm during and beyond the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic: Time series analysis of electronic healthcare records for 2.8 million patients in the Greater Manchester Care Record.
Article in EClinicalMedicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Comparison of paediatric emergency department visits for attempted suicide, self-harm, and suicidal ideation before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review and meta-analysis.The lancet. Psychiatry · 2023Pooled it
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- 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
- Self-reported changes in adolescent mental health, deliberate self-harm, substance use, and help-seeking behavior before and after the COVID-19 pandemic - A Finnish time-trend study.Child and adolescent mental health · 2026Article
- Attacks on healthcare in conflict-affected countries: a comparison of temporal trends in ongoing conflicts in Lebanon, Myanmar, occupied Palestinian territory, Sudan and Ukraine using WHO SSA and SHCC data, 2018-2024.Population health metrics · 2025Article
- Toxicovigilance in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic.Toxicology research · 2025Article
- Clinical characteristics and prevalence of adolescent self-harm before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic: retrospective cross-sectional database study.BJPsych open · 2025Article
- Socio-demographic variation in diagnosis of and prescribing for common mental illnesses among children and young people during the COVID-19 pandemic: time series analysis of primary care electronic health records.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2025Article
- Risk of admission to hospital for self-harm after admission to hospital for COVID-19: French nationwide longitudinal study.BJPsych open · 2024Article
- Association Between COVID-19 and Self-Harm: Nationwide Retrospective Ecological Spatiotemporal Study in Metropolitan France.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2024Article
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- Changes to healthcare utilisation and symptoms for common mental health problems over the first 21 months of the COVID-19 pandemic: parallel analyses of electronic health records and survey data in England.The Lancet regional health. Europe · 2023Article
- Opioid Injection-Associated Bacterial Infections in England, 2002-2021: A Time Series Analysis of Seasonal Variation and the Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2023Article
- COVID-19, young people, and suicidal behaviour.The lancet. Psychiatry · 2023Article
- Trends in emergency department visits for suicide attempts before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Korea: A nationwide study, 2016-2021.Journal of affective disorders · 2023Article
- OpenSAFELY NHS Service Restoration Observatory 2: changes in primary care clinical activity in England during the COVID-19 pandemic.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2023Article
- Age- and sex-dependent increase in self-harm among adolescents with mental health problems in East China during COVID-19 related society-wide isolation.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Suicide spectrum among young people during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis.EClinicalMedicine · 2022Article
- Article
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Funding
Abstract
backgroundSurveillance of temporal trends in clinically treated self-harm is an important component of suicide prevention in the dynamic context of COVID-19. There is little evidence beyond the initial months following the onset of the pandemic, despite national and regional restrictions persisting to mid-2021.
methodsDescriptive time series analysis utilizing de-identified, primary care health records of 2.8 million patients from the Greater Manchester Care Record. Frequencies of self-harm episodes between 1st January 2019 and 31st May 2021 were examined, including stratification by sex, age group, ethnicity, and index of multiple deprivation quintile.
findingsThere were 33,444 episodes of self-harm by 13,148 individuals recorded during the study period. Frequency ratios of incident and all episodes of self-harm were 0.59 (95% CI 0.51 to 0.69) and 0.69 (CI 0.63 to 0.75) respectively in April 2020 compared to February 2020. Between August 2020 and May 2021 frequency ratios were 0.92 (CI 0.88 to 0.96) for incident episodes and 0.86 (CI 0.84 to 0.88) for all episodes compared to the same months in 2019. Reductions were largest among men and people living in the most deprived neighbourhoods, while an increase in all-episode self-harm was observed for adolescents aged 10-17.
interpretationReductions in primary care-recorded self-harm persisted to May 2021, though they were less marked than in April 2020 during the first national lockdown. The observed reductions could represent longer term reluctance to seek help from health services. Our findings have implications for the ability for services to offer recommended care for patients who have harmed themselves.
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