@article{ref1,
title="Suicide attempt and intentional self-harm during the earlier phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in Washtenaw County, Michigan",
journal="Journal of epidemiology and community health",
year="2021",
author="Bergmans, Rachel S. and Larson, Peter S.",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="OBJECTIVE: Determine the early impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on emergency department (ED) encounters for suicide attempt and intentional self-harm at a regional tertiary academic medical centre in Washtenaw County, Michigan, which is one of the wealthier and more diverse counties in the state. <br><br>METHODS: Interrupted time series analysis of daily ED encounters from October 2015 through October 2020 for suicide attempt and intentional self-harm (subject n=3002; 62% female; 78% Caucasian) using an autoregressive integrated moving average modelling approach. <br><br>RESULTS: There were 39.9% (95% CI 22.9% to 53.1%) fewer ED encounters for suicide attempt and intentional self-harm during the first 12 weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic (ie, on or after 10 March 2020, when the first cases of COVID-19 were identified in Michigan). <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Fewer individuals sought emergency care for suicide-related behaviour during the earlier phase of the COVID-19 pandemic than expected when compared to prior years. This suggests initial outbreaks of COVID-19 and state of emergency executive orders did not increase suicide-related behaviour in the short term. More work is needed to determine long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on suicide-related behaviour and whether there are high-risk groups.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0143-005X",
doi="10.1136/jech-2020-215333",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jech-2020-215333"
}