Citation

Bergen HA, Hawton KE. Psychiatr. Danub. 2006; 18(Suppl 1): 90.

Affiliation

Centre for Suicide Research, University of Oxford, Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, OX3 7JX Oxford, UK. helen.bergen@psych.ox.ac.uk.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, Facultas Universitatis Studiorum Zagrabiensis - Danube Symposion of Psychiatry)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

16964015

Abstract

Aims: To investigate how patient characteristics and clinical management of deliberate self-harm (DSH) episodes vary according to hour and day of presentation. Method: Time of presentation was studied in 5348 DSH patients who presented to the emergency department of the general hospital in Oxford, UK, following 9101 episodes during a 6-year period. Patient characteristics were identified through routine clinical monitoring. Results: Presentations varied markedly during the 24-hour cycle, ranging from a peak between 8pm and 3am (average hourly rate of 6.6% of all episodes) to a low between 4am and 10am (1.4%). The majority (72.0%) occurred outside office hours (9am-5pm). DSH associated with alcohol use and interpersonal problems was more frequent during the late evening or night, and at the weekend. A greater proportion of daytime presentations involved high suicide intent (although a larger number of high intent acts presented at other times), and a greater proportion were admitted and assessed. Conclusions and Implications: Diurnal variation in frequency of alcohol and personal problems in patients reflects their temporal variation in society. The majority of DSH patients present during the late evening or night. Clinical services need to be available at that time, or other provision made for delayed psychosocial assessment.

Language: en