Incidence of Deliberate Self-Harm in Hong Kong Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Population-Wide Retrospective Cohort Study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

COVID-19 ended on May 5, 2023, and since then Hong Kong reported increased mental distress, which was speculated to be from the policies implemented during the pandemic. Despite this, longitudinal surveillance of deliberate self-harm (DSH) incidences throughout the pandemic in Hong Kong remained insufficient.

Objective

The objective of this study was to outline the changes in DSH incidences before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong, with respect to sex, age, and co-occurring mental health issues.

Methods

A quasi-experiment was conducted using an interrupted time series design to estimate the impact of the pandemic on DSH-related emergency department (ED) visits. This design enabled the estimation of DSH-related ED visits based on prepandemic data

SUBMITTER: Luk LYF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11832357 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature