Hospital presentations for self-poisoning during COVID-19 in Sri Lanka: an interrupted time-series analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

There is widespread concern over the impact of public health measures, such as lockdowns, associated with COVID-19 on mental health, including suicide. High-quality evidence from low-income and middle-income countries, where the burden of suicide and self-harm is greatest, is scarce. We aimed to determine the effect of the pandemic on hospital presentations for self-poisoning.

Methods

In this interrupted time-series analysis, we established a new self-poisoning register at the tertiary care Teaching Hospital Peradeniya in Sri Lanka, a lower-middle-income country. Using a standard extraction sheet, data were gathered for all patients admitted to the Toxicology Unit with self-poisoning between Jan 1, 2019, and Aug 31, 2020. Only patients classified by the treating c

SUBMITTER: Knipe D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8445699 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature