TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2024//
TI  - The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on self-harm attempts observed in a hospital emergency department
JO  - Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland)
A1  - Fernández-Martinez, Elena
A1  - Barros-Martínez, Andrea
A1  - Martínez-Fernández, María Cristina
A1  - Quiñones-Pérez, Marta
SP  - e385
EP  - e385
VL  - 12
IS  - 3
N2  - Suicide is a significant public health concern, with one million lives lost to it every year. Suicidal ideation and attempts are markers of high risk. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative psychological impact on the population. This study aims to describe and analyze the clinical and sociodemographic characteristics of patients who have received medical attention for self-harm attempts in a hospital emergency department, comparing the period before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a descriptive, retrospective study that collected data from medical records of patients who received care for self-harm attempts in the emergency department. The data included cases from 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2022. In total, 529 cases of self-harm attempts were identified, of which 62.8% were female. The number of post-pandemic self-harm attempts significantly increased compared to the period before the pandemic. The most used method for self-harm was medication ingestion. This study revealed that over one-third of the participants had previously attempted suicide. Most self-harm attempts were made by women in the 10-20 or 41-50 age groups, with a history of psychiatric illness and multiple medications. The study results also highlighted an increase in self-harm attempts during the COVID-19 pandemic.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 2227-9032
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/healthcare12030385
ID  - ref1
ER  -