Are recent increases in deliberate self-harm associated with changes in socio-economic conditions? An ecological analysis of patterns of deliberate self-harm in Bristol 1972–3 and 1995–6

2000 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 1197-1203 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. GUNNELL ◽  
M. SHEPHERD ◽  
M. EVANS

Background. The incidence of deliberate self-harm (DSH) in Britain has increased markedly over the last 30 years. Reasons for this rise are not clear. We have investigated whether changes in the social and economic environment underlie any of the recent increase in DSH incidence.Methods. An ecological analysis was used to assess associations between changes in census-based measures of the social and economic environment – the Townsend Deprivation Index and a three-factor social fragmentation index – and changes in age- and sex-specific hospital attendance rates for DSH for the 28 wards of the city of Bristol between 1972–3 and 1995–6.Results. There were significant cross-sectional associations between the Townsend Index and rates of DSH in both males and females in both time periods. Increases in Townsend Index were also associated with increases in DSH. This association was statistically significant at the 5% level in 25–34 year-old females. Associations with the social fragmentation index were weak, although our index was based on rather limited data.Conclusions. This analysis suggests that changes in levels of socio-economic deprivation may influence area-specific patterns of DSH and such changes may have contributed to recent rises in DSH.

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 92-104
Author(s):  
Ajay Kumar Yadav ◽  
B K Rai ◽  
R Bhandari ◽  
DR Shakya ◽  
PP Gupta ◽  
...  

Background: Deliberate self-harm (DSH) is a widespread yet often hidden problem in adolescents and young adults though most DSH can be classified as “non-suicidal self-cutting”, some do go on to commit suicide. DSH present in acute settings of hospitals while limited information are found on reasons and methods for DSH in eastern Nepal. This study aimed at exploring the reasons and methods for deliberate self harm among patients presenting in acute setting of BPKIHS.Objective: To study the methods used and reasons for deliberate self harm in the patients presenting in emergency department and psychiatry outpatient clinics of BPKIHS.Method: Mix method (quantitative and qualitative) was used to conduct cross-sectional study using a pretested semi-structured questionnaire among 400 patients presenting in emergency department and out-patient clinic of Psychiatry department. In-depth interview was conducted among 12 respondents. Result: Four fifth of the patients, used poison as the method for DSH followed by hanging among less than a tenth of the patients. Majority (88%) of the patients did not have any planning before committing act of DSH. Interpersonal conflict (48%), financial reasons (20%) and broken love affairs (16%) are common events triggering DSH. Two-third of patients who presented with DSH were impulsive and almost two-fifth of them had depression.Conclusion: DSH was more common among the younger population. Advocacy to regulate the availability of pesticides for agricultural use may be needed to prevent the at risk population for accessing and using it for self harm. More community based studies to further explore the social aspects for the act of DSH and further researches is needed to design interventions to prevent the act of DSH at community level.Health Renaissance 2015;13(2): 92-104


Crisis ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 272-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison S. Christian ◽  
Kristen M. McCabe

Background: Deliberate self-harm (DSH) occurs with high frequency among clinical and nonclinical youth populations. Although depression has been consistently linked with the behavior, not all depressed individuals engage in DSH. Aims: The current study examined maladaptive coping strategies (i.e., self-blame, distancing, and self-isolation) as mediators between depression and DSH among undergraduate students. Methods: 202 students from undergraduate psychology courses at a private university in Southern California (77.7% women) completed anonymous self-report measures. Results: A hierarchical regression model found no differences in DSH history across demographic variables. Among coping variables, self-isolation alone was significantly related to DSH. A full meditational model was supported: Depressive symptoms were significantly related to DSH, but adding self-isolation to the model rendered the relationship nonsignificant. Limitations: The cross-sectional study design prevents determination of whether a casual relation exists between self-isolation and DSH, and obscures the direction of that relationship. Conclusions: Results suggest targeting self-isolation as a means of DSH prevention and intervention among nonclinical, youth populations.


1985 ◽  
Vol 146 (5) ◽  
pp. 459-463 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald J. Brooksbank

Suicide is intentional self-killing, and parasuicide an act of deliberate self-harm—either by injury, ingestion or inhalation—not resulting in death (Blacket al,1982). Both are rare under the age of 12 and the rate of suicide in those under 16 remains consistently low. Referrals to psychiatric services reported by Shaffer (1974) indicated that 7–10% were for threatened or attempted suicide, while Hawton (1982) quoted studies giving the incidence as 10–33% for children aged six to 12; in England and Wales (1962–1968), suicide accounted for 0.6% of deaths in the 10–14 age-range. McClure (1984) found that between 1975 and 1980, only ten such deaths were recorded in the 13-and-under range, and 26 deaths in the 14 year-olds, after which the number of suicides rose sharply with each successive year. That study also showed that parasuicide was most common in the 15–24 age-group, but at younger ages there was a higher proportion of undetermined deaths, as against officially recorded suicides. The social taboos associated with suicide may lead to its systematic under-reporting, but even allowing for that, the phenomenon is still a rare one under the age of 16.


2010 ◽  
Vol 40 (11) ◽  
pp. 1811-1819 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. M. McMahon ◽  
U. Reulbach ◽  
P. Corcoran ◽  
H. S. Keeley ◽  
I. J. Perry ◽  
...  

BackgroundDeliberate self-harm (DSH) is a major public health problem, with young people most at risk. Lifetime prevalence of DSH in Irish adolescents is between 8% and 12%, and it is three times more prevalent among girls than boys. The aim of the study was to identify the psychological, life-style and life event factors associated with self-harm in Irish adolescents.MethodA cross-sectional study was conducted, with 3881 adolescents in 39 schools completing an anonymous questionnaire as part of the Child and Adolescent Self-harm in Europe (CASE) study. There was an equal gender balance and 53.1% of students were 16 years old. Information was obtained on history of self-harm life events, and demographic, psychological and life-style factors.ResultsBased on multivariate analyses, important factors associated with DSH among both genders were drug use and knowing a friend who had engaged in self-harm. Among girls, poor self-esteem, forced sexual activity, self-harm of a family member, fights with parents and problems with friendships also remained in the final model. For boys, experiencing bullying, problems with schoolwork, impulsivity and anxiety remained.ConclusionsDistinct profiles of boys and girls who engage in self-harm were identified. Associations between DSH and some life-style and life event factors suggest that mental health factors are not the sole indicators of risk of self-harm. The importance of school-related risk factors underlines the need to develop gender-specific initiatives in schools to reduce the prevalence of self-harm.


2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sohini Banerjee ◽  
Arabinda Narayan Chowdhury ◽  
Esther Schelling ◽  
Mitchell G. Weiss

The toxicological impact and intentional ingestion of pesticides are major public health concerns globally. This study aimed to estimate the extent of deliberate self-harm (DSH) and suicides (suicidal behaviour) and document pesticide practices in Namkhana block of the Sundarban region, India. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 1680 households (21 villages) following a mixed random and cluster design sampling. The survey questionnaire (Household Information on Pesticide Use and DSH) was developed by the research team to elicit qualitative and quantitative information. The Kappa statistic and McNemar’s test were used to assess the level of agreement and association between respondents’ and investigators’ opinions about safe storage of pesticides. Over five years, 1680 households reported 181 incidents of suicidal behaviour. Conflict with family members was the most frequently reported reason for suicidal behaviour (53.6%). The Kappa statistic indicated poor agreement between respondents and investigators about safe storage of pesticides. The pesticide-related annual DSH rate was 158.1 (95% CI 126.2–195.5), and for suicide it was 73.4 (95% CI 52.2–100.3) per 100,000. Unsafe pesticide practice and psychosocial stressors are related to the high rates of suicidal behaviour. An intersectoral approach involving the local governments, agricultural department and the health sector would help to reduce the magnitude of this public health problem.


Sensors ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (11) ◽  
pp. 2612 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Bustamante ◽  
Laura Sebastia ◽  
Eva Onaindia

Promoting a tourist destination requires uncovering travel patterns and destination choices, identifying the profile of visitors and analyzing attitudes and preferences of visitors for the city. To this end, tourism-related data are an invaluable asset to understand tourism behaviour, obtain statistical records and support decision-making for business around tourism. In this work, we study the behaviour of tourists visiting top attractions of a city in relation to the tourist influx to restaurants around the attractions. We propose to undertake this analysis by retrieving information posted by visitors in a social network and using an open access map service to locate the tweets in a influence area of the city. Additionally, we present a pattern recognition based technique to differentiate visitors and locals from the collected data from the social network. We apply our study to the city of Valencia in Spain and Berlin in Germany. The results show that, while in Valencia the most frequented restaurants are located near top attractions of the city, in Berlin, it is usually the case that the most visited restaurants are far away from the relevant attractions of the city. The conclusions from this study can be very insightful for destination marketers.


1970 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 160-165
Author(s):  
AA Mamun Hussain ◽  
ARM Saifuddin Ekram ◽  
MA Alim ◽  
MA Ahad ◽  
S Qais ◽  
...  

The term ‘Deliberate Self Harm' (DSH) is often used to describe behaviors through which people inflict acute harm upon themselves with non-fatal outcome, when the behaviors are somewhat linked to, but do not result in death. This cross-sectional retrospective study included 66 subjects admitted with DSH in the Department of Medicine of Rajshahi Medical College Hospital during the period of January 2006 to July 2006. Among the respondents 57.57% were female and 42.42% were male, when they were mostly Muslims (89.39%) and only 10.61% were Hindus. As regards to occupation 46.96% were students, 30.30% were housewives and rest belong to others. 68.01% were in the age of 17-28 years. 50% were uneducated, 24.24% completed SSC and rests were in other classes. 42.42% were married, 45.45% were unmarried and others were either separated or divorced. DSH was mostly preceded by recent quarrel (34.84%), followed by poor interaction with parents (19.69%) and rejection of love (18.18%). The common adopted method of self-harm were ingestion of poisons (59.09%) and different self-medication (30.30%). 93.93% had the first attempt, 4.54% had second attempt and only 1 had the third attempt. The motivations were frustration (59.09%), making other feel guilty (25.75%) and to die (10.60%). Psychiatric diagnosis included relational problem (54.54%), major depressive disorder (34.84%), schizophrenia (4.54%) and adjustment disorder (3.03%). This study, in fact suggests a special need for the assessment of DSH and formulation of a comprehensive treatment approach. doi: 10.3329/taj.v21i2.3798 TAJ 2008; 21(2): 160-165


2010 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 352-359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jéssica Carvalho de Matos ◽  
Sandra Marisa Pelloso ◽  
Maria Dalva de Barros Carvalho

The aim of this study was to identify the prevalence of the risk factors for breast cancer among women between 40 and 69 years old in the city of Maringá, Paraná State, Brazil. An analytical, exploratory and cross-sectional study was carried out through a population research at homes in Maringá. The sample was composed of 439 women between 40 and 69 years old. The data were collected by home interviews, stored using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software and presented in tables as absolute and relative frequency. The predominant ethnical group was Caucasian with an average age of 52 years. Among risk factors identified in the present study, an expressive number of overweight women were found. It is important and necessary to put in practice actions that identify the modifiable risk factors for the development of breast tumors in order to reduce morbidity and mortality levels due to this pathology.


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