Rate of self-harm presentations at hospitals fell during spring lockdown
Of Harm Rate 2 Between 20 Stock Picture: Presentations Hospitals Day January Pexels Recorded 4,923 And Self At 19 A Of Per August, A Were Total
New provisional data indicates there was a surge in the number of people presenting at hospitals having self-harmed last February –but that the rates then fell in March and April.
The data, to be presented today by the National Suicide Research Foundation based on its National Self-Harm Registry, covers the first eight months of the year and shows that "overall, the rate of hospital-presenting self-harm in January-August 2020 was similar to the rate in the same eight months of 2018-2019", with "no increase in the incidence of hospital-presenting self-harm since the outbreak of Covid-19 in Ireland".
However, the researchers stressed they could not infer there was no change in the incidence of self-harm not presenting to hospital or in the incidence of suicide during the same period.
The data, to be presented at a briefing by Dr Paul Corcoran, NSRF head of research, and his colleagues shows a total of 4,923 self-harm presentations to the 19 hospitals around the country between January and August – equivalent to 20.2 presentations per day, comparable to the rate of 20.7 per day for the same period in 2018/19.
However, the data shows "significant differences" in the rates of presentation in February, March and April, with soaring rates in February and then reductions in the two months that followed.
"In February 2020, a total of 694 self-harm presentations were made to the 19 hospitals examined, a rate of 23.9 per day," the briefing paper outlines – 18% higher than the February figures for 2018/19.
"In March 2020, the first month of the outbreak in Ireland, there were 558 self-harm presentations to the 19 hospitals. The daily rate was 18.0, which is 13% lower than the rate of 20.7 per day in March 2018-2019.
"The Irish Government’s stay-at-home restrictions came into force on March 27. April 2020 saw 485 self-harm presentations to the 19 hospitals. The daily rate was 16.2, which is 22% lower than the daily rate of 20.7 in April 2018-2019."
According to the provisional data, while stay-at-home restrictions continued until mid-May, the rate of presentations returned to usual levels that month and remained so through to August.
The NSRF said it would be some time before the impact of the pandemic on suicide could be assessed.
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