Self-harm among youth during the first 28 months of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario, Canada: a population-based study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Youth have reported worsening mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. We sought to evaluate rates of pediatric acute care visits for self-harm during the pandemic according to age, sex and mental health service use.

Methods

We conducted a population-based, repeated cross-sectional study using linked health administrative data sets to measure monthly rates of emergency department visits and hospital admissions for self-harm among youth aged 10-17 years between Jan. 1, 2017, and June 30, 2022, in Ontario, Canada. We modelled expected rates of acute care visits for self-harm after the pandemic onset based on prepandemic rates. We reported relative differences between observed and expected monthly rates overall and by age group (10-13 yr and 14-17 yr), sex and men

SUBMITTER: Mitchell RHB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10506509 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature