Citation

Hawton KE, Zahl DL, Weatherall R. Br. J. Psychiatry 2003; 182: 537-542.

Affiliation

Centre for Suicide Research, University Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, UK. keith.hawton@psych.ox.ac.uk

Copyright

(Copyright © 2003, Royal College of Psychiatry)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

12777346

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Deliberate self-harm (DSH) is the strongest risk factor for future suicide. Up-to-date information on the extent of risk is lacking. AIMS: To investigate the risk of suicide after DSH during a long follow-up period. METHOD: A mortality follow-up study to 2000 was conducted on 11 583 patients who presented to hospital after DSH between 1978 and 1997. Data were obtained from a general hospital DSH register in Oxford and the Office for National Statistics, and from equivalent mortality registers in Scotland and Northern Ireland. RESULTS: Three hundred patients had died by suicide or probable suicide. The risk in the first year of follow-up was 0.7% (95% CI 0.6-0.9%), which was 66 (95% CI 52-82) times the annual risk of suicide in the general population. The risk after 5 years was 1.7%, at 10 years 2.4% and at 15 years 3.0%. The risk was far higher in men than in women (hazard ratio 2.8,95% CI 2.2-3.6). In both genders it increased markedly with age at initial presentation. CONCLUSIONS: Following DSH there is a significant and persistent risk of suicide, which varies markedly between genders and age groups. Reduction in the risk of suicide following DSH must be a key element in national suicide prevention strategies.

Language: en