Louise Ostertag1, Philippe Golay1, Yves Dorogi1, Sebastien Brovelli1, Marta Bertran1, Ioan Cromec2, Bénédicte Van Der Vaeren2, Riaz Khan3, Alessandra Costanza3, Karine Wyss3, Anne Edan4, Francesca Assandri5, Rémy Barbe4, Solenn Lorillard4, Stéphane Saillant6, Laurent Michaud7. 1. Department of Psychiatry, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland. 2. Psychiatry and Psychotherapy Pole, Valais Hospital, Sion, Switzerland. 3. Emergency Psychiatry Department, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland. 4. Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Geneva University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland. 5. Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Geneva University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland / McGill Group for Suicide Studies, McGill University, Montreal, Canada. 6. Centre for Psychiatric Emergencies and Liaison Psychiatry, Neuchâtel Psychiatry Centre, Neuchâtel, Switzerland. 7. Department of Psychiatry, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland / McGill Group for Suicide Studies, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
Abstract
AIMS OF THE STUDY: Self-harm is a major risk factor for suicide but remains poorly documented. No data on self-harm in French-speaking Switzerland exist. To address this deficiency, the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health commissioned a specific self-harm monitoring programme. We present and discuss its implementation and first findings. METHODS: Every patient aged 18–65 years presenting for self-harm to the emergency departments of the Lausanne and Neuchâtel general hospitals were included in the monitoring programme over a 10-month period (December 2016 to September 2017). Clinicians collected anonymous sociodemographic and clinical data. RESULTS: The sample included 490 patients (54.9% female and 45.1% male) for 554 episodes of self-harm, showing a higher proportion of patients aged 18–34 (49.2%) than older age groups (35–49, 33.7% and 50–65, 17.1%). Patients were mostly single (56.1%) and in problematic socioeconomic situations (65.7%). Self-poisoning was the most commonly used method (58.2%) and was preferred by women (71% of females and 42.5% of males, Fisher’s exact test, p <0.001) and the majority of patients (53.3%) had experienced at least one previous episode of self-harm. The self-harm rate was 220 per 100,000 inhabitants in Lausanne and 140 in Neuchâtel. Suicidal intent was clear for 50.6% of the overall sample, unclear for 25.1% and absent for 24.3%. It differed significantly between sites (χ2(2) = 9.068, p = 0.011) as Lausanne reported more incidents of unclear intent (27.7% versus 17.4% in Neuchâtel) and Neuchâtel more incidents with absence of intent (33.1% versus 21.3% in Lausanne). In Lausanne, patients more frequently resorted to methods such as jumping from a height (11.4%) and hanging (9%) than in Neuchâtel (1.6% and 4.9%, Fisher’s exact test, p = 0.006). CONCLUSIONS: Our results are globally consistent with previous research on self-harm. We found significant inter-site differences in methods, suicidal intent and self-harm rates. Our findings highlight the importance of implementing local self-harm monitoring to identify specific at-risk groups and develop targeted preventive intervention.
AIMS OF THE STUDY: Self-harm is a major risk factor for suicide but remains poorly documented. No data on self-harm in French-speaking Switzerland exist. To address this deficiency, the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health commissioned a specific self-harm monitoring programme. We present and discuss its implementation and first findings. METHODS: Every patient aged 18&ndash;65 years presenting for self-harm to the emergency departments of the Lausanne and Neuch&acirc;tel general hospitals were included in the monitoring programme over a 10-month period (December 2016 to September 2017). Clinicians collected anonymous sociodemographic and clinical data. RESULTS: The sample included 490 patients (54.9% female and 45.1% male) for 554 episodes of self-harm, showing a higher proportion of patients aged 18&ndash;34 (49.2%) than older age groups (35&ndash;49, 33.7% and 50&ndash;65, 17.1%). Patients were mostly single (56.1%) and in problematic socioeconomic situations (65.7%). Self-poisoning was the most commonly used method (58.2%) and was preferred by women (71% of females and 42.5% of males, Fisher&rsquo;s exact test, p &lt;0.001) and the majority of patients (53.3%) had experienced at least one previous episode of self-harm. The self-harm rate was 220 per 100,000 inhabitants in Lausanne and 140 in Neuch&acirc;tel. Suicidal intent was clear for 50.6% of the overall sample, unclear for 25.1% and absent for 24.3%. It differed significantly between sites (&chi;2(2) = 9.068, p = 0.011) as Lausanne reported more incidents of unclear intent (27.7% versus 17.4% in Neuch&acirc;tel) and Neuch&acirc;tel more incidents with absence of intent (33.1% versus 21.3% in Lausanne). In Lausanne, patients more frequently resorted to methods such as jumping from a height (11.4%) and hanging (9%) than in Neuch&acirc;tel (1.6% and 4.9%, Fisher&rsquo;s exact test, p = 0.006). CONCLUSIONS: Our results are globally consistent with previous research on self-harm. We found significant inter-site differences in methods, suicidal intent and self-harm rates. Our findings highlight the importance of implementing local self-harm monitoring to identify specific at-risk groups and develop targeted preventive intervention.
Authors: Philippe Golay; Louise Ostertag; Alessandra Costanza; Bénédicte Van der Vaeren; Yves Dorogi; Stéphane Saillant; Laurent Michaud Journal: Ann Gen Psychiatry Date: 2021-05-13 Impact factor: 3.455
Authors: Alessandra Costanza; Michalina Radomska; Francesco Zenga; Andrea Amerio; Andrea Aguglia; Gianluca Serafini; Mario Amore; Isabella Berardelli; Yasutaka Ojio; Khoa D Nguyen Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2021-01-20 Impact factor: 3.390
Authors: Alessandra Costanza; Julia Ambrosetti; Philippe Spagnoli; Andrea Amerio; Andrea Aguglia; Gianluca Serafini; Mario Amore; Guido Bondolfi; François Sarasin; Rodrigue Pignel Journal: Int J Emerg Med Date: 2020-12-02