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Observational Study
. 2021 Jul;56(4):266-277.
doi: 10.1177/0091217420982100. Epub 2020 Dec 15.

The effect of COVID-19 lockdown on the incidence of deliberate self-harm injuries presenting to the emergency room

Nader Henry  1 , Sunil Parthiban  1 , Azzam Farroha  1
Affiliations
Observational Study

The effect of COVID-19 lockdown on the incidence of deliberate self-harm injuries presenting to the emergency room

Nader Henry et al. Int J Psychiatry Med. 2021 Jul.

Abstract

Objective: The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic on 11th March 2020. The UK government introduced strict social distancing measures on 23rd March 2020, with the country put into a full lockdown to further halt the spread of the virus.The aims of this article are to ascertain whether there was a rise in the incidence of deliberate self-harm (DSH) presentations to the emergency department at a level one trauma center associated with the introduction of lockdown measures.

Method: An observational study from a level one trauma center was carried out. Retrospective data from 23rd March 2020 to 1st May 2020 was collected and compared to the same time period in 2019. Data was collected from coded electronic patient records.

Results: Total attendances to the Emergency Department (ED) reduced from 2019 to 2020 (5198 and 3059 respectively). There was a significant increase in the total number of self-harm presentations between 2019 and 2020 (103 vs 113, p-value <0.001) as well as paracetamol, NSAID and opiate overdoses, with more cases requiring hospital admission in 2020 vs 2019.

Conclusions: Societal lockdown measures secondary to the COVID-19 pandemic have had a significant effect on the mental health of patients. One way this can be detected is through an increased incidence and severity of deliberate self-harm injuries presenting to the ED. These findings, in conjunction with the available, literature provide valuable implications for community and emergency physicians and psychiatrists for any future wave of disease or pandemic.

Keywords: COVID 19; deliberate self-harm; mental health; trauma.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of conflicting interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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