Keith Hawton

Deliberate self harm in adolescents: self report survey in schools in England.

Abstract Objective: To determine the prevalence of deliberate self harm in adolescents and the factors associated with it. Design: Cross sectional survey using anonymous self report questionnaire. Setting: 41 schools in England. Participants: 6020 pupils aged 15 and 16 years. Main outcome measure: Deliberate self harm. Results: 398 (6.9%) participants reported an act of deliberate self harm in the previous year that met study criteria. Only 12.6% of episodes had resulted in presentation to hospital. Deliberate self harm was more common in females than it was in males (11.2% v 3.2%; odds ratio 3.9, 95% confidence interval 3.1 to 4.9). In females the factors included in a multivariate logistic regression for deliberate self harm were recent self harm by friends, self harm by family members, drug misuse, depression, anxiety, impulsivity, and low self esteem. In males the factors were suicidal behaviour in friends and family members, drug use, and low self esteem. Conclusions: Deliberate self harm is common in adolescents, especially females. School based mental health initiatives are needed. These could include approaches aimed at educating school pupils about mental health problems and screening for those at risk. What is already known on this topic Deliberate self harm is a common reason for presentation of adolescents to hospital Community studies from outside the United Kingdom have shown much greater prevalence of self harm in adolescents than hospital based studies What this study adds Deliberate self harm defined according to strict criteria is common in adolescents, especially females Associated factors include recent awareness of self harm in peers, self harm by family members, drug misuse, depression, anxiety, impulsivity, and low self esteem

Self-harm and suicide in adolescents

Self-harm and suicide are major public health problems in adolescents, with rates of self-harm being high in the teenage years and suicide being the second most common cause of death in young people worldwide. Important contributors to self-harm and suicide include genetic vulnerability and psychiatric, psychological, familial, social, and cultural factors. The effects of media and contagion are also important, with the internet having an important contemporary role. Prevention of self-harm and suicide needs both universal measures aimed at young people in general and targeted initiatives focused on high-risk groups. There is little evidence of effectiveness of either psychosocial or pharmacological treatment, with particular controversy surrounding the usefulness of antidepressants. Restriction of access to means for suicide is important. Major challenges include the development of greater understanding of the factors that contribute to self-harm and suicide in young people, especially mechanisms underlying contagion and the effect of new media. The identification of successful prevention initiatives aimed at young people and those at especially high risk, and the establishment of effective treatments for those who self-harm, are paramount needs.

Cognitive behaviour therapy for the chronic fatigue syndrome: a randomized controlled trial

Abstract Objective: To evaluate the acceptability and efficacy of adding cognitive behaviour therapy to the medical care of patients presenting with the chronic fatigue syndrome. Design: Randomised controlled trial with final assessment at 12 months. Setting: An infectious diseases outpatient clinic. Subjects: 60 consecutively referred patients meeting consensus criteria for the chronic fatigue syndrome. Interventions: Medical care comprised assessment, advice, and follow up in general practice. Patients who received cognitive behaviour therapy were offered 16 individual weekly sessions in addition to their medical care. Main outcome measures: The proportions of patients (a) who achieved normal daily functioning (Karnofsky score 80 or more) and (b) who achieved a clinically significant improvement in functioning (change in Karnofsky score 10 points or more) by 12 months after randomisation. Results: Only two eligible patients refused to participate. All randomised patients completed treatment. An intention to treat analysis showed that 73% (22/30) of recipients of cognitive behaviour therapy achieved a satisfactory outcome as compared with 27% (8/30) of patients who were given only medical care (difference 47 percentage points; 95% confidence interval 24 to 69). Similar differences were observed in subsidiary outcome measures. The improvement in disability among patients given cognitive behaviour therapy continued after completion of therapy. Illness beliefs and coping behaviour previously associated with a poor outcome changed more with cognitive behaviour therapy than with medical care alone. Conclusion: Adding cognitive behaviour therapy to the medical care of patients with the chronic fatigue syndrome is acceptable to patients and leads to a sustained reduction in functional impairment. Key messages Key messages There is no generally accepted form of treatment New findings show that patients referred to hospital for the chronic fatigue syndrome have a better outcome if they are given a course of cognitive behaviour therapy than if they receive only basic medical care Clinical improvement with cognitive behaviour therapy may be slow but often continues after treatment has ended Cognitive behaviour therapy should be considered as an option for patients presenting with the chronic fatigue syndrome

Deliberate self harm: systematic review of efficacy of psychosocial and pharmacological treatments in preventing repetition

Abstract Objective: To identify and synthesise the findings from all randomised controlled trials that have examined the effectiveness of treatments of patients who have deliberately harmed themselves. Design: Systematic review of randomised controlled trials of psychosocial and physical treatments. Studies categorised according to type of treatment. When there was more than one investigation in a particular category a summary odds ratio was estimated with the Mantel-Haenszel method. Setting: Randomised trials available in electronic databases in 1996, in the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register in 1997, and from hand searching of journals to 1997. Subjects: Patients who had deliberately harmed themselves shortly before entry into the trials with information on repetition of behaviour. The included trials comprised 2452 randomised participants with outcome data. Main outcome measure: Repetition of self harm. Results: 20 trials reported repetition of self harm as an outcome variable, classified into 10 categories. Summary odds ratio (all for comparison with standard aftercare) indicated reduced repetition for problem solving therapy (0.73; 95% confidence interval 0.45 to 1.18) and for provision of an emergency contact card in addition to standard care (0.45; 0.19 to 1.07). The summary odds ratios were 0.83 (0.61 to 1.14) for trials of intensive aftercare plus outreach and 1.19 (0.53 to 2.67) for antidepressant treatment compared with placebo. Significantly reduced rates of further self harm were observed for depot flupenthixol versus placebo in multiple repeaters (0.09; 0.02 to 0.50) and for dialectical behaviour therapy versus standard aftercare (0.24; 0.06 to 0.93). Conclusion: There remains considerable uncertainty about which forms of psychosocial and physical treatments of patients who harm themselves are most effective. Further larger trials of treatments are needed. Key messages A systematic review of the effectiveness of psychosocial and drug treatments of patients who deliberately harm themselves identified 20 randomised controlled trials in which repetition of self harm was reported as an outcome Promising results were found for problem solving therapy, provision of a card to allow patients to make emergency contact with services, depot flupenthixol for recurrent self harm, and long term psychological therapy for female patients with borderline personality disorder and recurrent self harm Assertive outreach can help to keep patients in treatment Nearly all the trials included too few patients to detect clinically significant differences in repetition of self harm, and even synthesis of results by meta-analysis did not have the power to detect such differences There is an urgent need for large trials of promising therapies for this substantial clinical population

Suicide after discharge from psychiatric inpatient care

People with a history of psychiatric disorder are at higher risk of suicide than people without such a history. The policy of reducing inpatient care in psychiatry has probably meant that some of the risk of suicide has shifted from the hospital to the community setting. We have quantified the risk of suicide within a year of psychiatric discharge in a population-based study in the Oxford health region, UK. We calculated suicide rates per 1000 person-years at risk (time from discharge to death, subsequent readmission, or the end of the study) and the standardised mortality ratio (SMR) for suicide, taking the value among the general population as 1. Among male patients the SMR for suicide (defined by coroners verdict of suicide) in the first 28 days after discharge from inpatient care was 213 (95% CI 137-317); the equivalent SMR for female patients was 134 (67-240). The result was similar when we defined suicide more broadly as a suicide, open, or misadventure verdict. The suicide rate in the first 28 days after discharge was 7.1 (4.1-12) times higher for male patients and 3.0 (1.5-6.0) times higher for female patients than the rate during the remaining 48 weeks of the first year after discharge. Most of the patients studied (both those who committed suicide and those who did not) had been psychiatric inpatients for only a short time. The findings confirm that there is significant clustering of suicide soon after discharge from psychiatric care. Skilled support after discharge for high-risk patients in the community is essential. Audit of suicides that occur soon after discharge may help identify the patients at highest risk and thereby reduce the number of avoidable deaths.

Risk factors for suicide in individuals with depression: A systematic review

BACKGROUND Depression is the most common psychiatric disorder in people who die by suicide. Awareness of risk factors for suicide in depression is important for clinicians. METHODS In a systematic review of the international literature we identified cohort and case-control studies of people with depression in which suicide was an outcome, and conducted meta-analyses of potential risk factors. RESULTS Nineteen studies (28 publications) were included. Factors significantly associated with suicide were: male gender (OR=1.76, 95% CI=1.08-2.86), family history of psychiatric disorder (OR=1.41, 95% CI=1.00-1.97), previous attempted suicide (OR=4.84, 95% CI=3.26-7.20), more severe depression (OR=2.20, 95% CI=1.05-4.60), hopelessness (OR=2.20, 95% CI=1.49-3.23) and comorbid disorders, including anxiety (OR=1.59, 95% CI=1.03-2.45) and misuse of alcohol and drugs (OR=2.17, 95% CI=1.77-2.66). LIMITATIONS There were fewer studies than suspected. Interdependence between risk factors could not be examined. CONCLUSIONS The factors identified should be included in clinical assessment of risk in depressed patients. Further large-scale studies are required to identify other relevant factors.

The psychological autopsy approach to studying suicide: a review of methodological issues.

The psychological autopsy approach to studying suicide is becoming an increasingly used research method. It presents considerable methodological problems. In order to assist future researchers in this field and to help readers assess reports of psychological autopsy studies the authors have reviewed these issues on the basis of their own experience and those of other workers. The areas covered include research design, identification of subjects, sources of information and the particular issues concerned with approaching relatives and other informants, choice and recruitment of controls, the difficulties of conducting psychological autopsy interviews with relatives, problems for interviewers, the selection of appropriate measures to obtain information, and achieving valid and reasonably reliable conclusions from diverse information sources.

Lithium in the prevention of suicide in mood disorders: updated systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective To assess whether lithium has a specific preventive effect for suicide and self harm in people with unipolar and bipolar mood disorders. Design Systematic review and meta-analysis. Data sources Medline, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, CENTRAL, web based clinical trial registries, major textbooks, authors of important papers and other experts in the discipline, and websites of pharmaceutical companies that manufacture lithium or the comparator drugs (up to January 2013). Inclusion criteria Randomised controlled trials comparing lithium with placebo or active drugs in long term treatment for mood disorders. Review methods Two reviewers assessed studies for inclusion and risk of bias and extracted data. The main outcomes were the number of people who completed suicide, engaged in deliberate self harm, and died from any cause. Results 48 randomised controlled trials (6674 participants, 15 comparisons) were included. Lithium was more effective than placebo in reducing the number of suicides (odds ratio 0.13, 95% confidence interval 0.03 to 0.66) and deaths from any cause (0.38, 0.15 to 0.95). No clear benefits were observed for lithium compared with placebo in preventing deliberate self harm (0.60, 0.27 to 1.32). In unipolar depression, lithium was associated with a reduced risk of suicide (0.36, 0.13 to 0.98) and also the number of total deaths (0.13, 0.02 to 0.76) compared with placebo. When lithium was compared with each active individual treatment a statistically significant difference was found only with carbamazepine for deliberate self harm. Lithium tended to be generally better than the other active comparators, with small statistical variation between the results. Conclusions Lithium is an effective treatment for reducing the risk of suicide in people with mood disorders. Lithium may exert its antisuicidal effects by reducing relapse of mood disorder, but additional mechanisms should also be considered because there is some evidence that lithium decreases aggression and possibly impulsivity, which might be another mechanism mediating the antisuicidal effect.

Effects of legislation restricting pack sizes of paracetamol and salicylate on self poisoning in the United Kingdom: before and after study

Abstract Objective: To evaluate the effects on suicidal behaviour of legislation limiting the size of packs of paracetamol and salicylates sold over the counter. Setting: UK population, with detailed monitoring of data from five liver units and seven general hospitals, between September 1996 and September 1999. subjects: People who died by suicidal or accidental overdose with paracetamol or salicylates, or who died of undetermined causes; patients admitted to liver units with hepatic paracetamol poisoning; patients presenting to general hospitals with self poisoning after taking paracetamol or salicylates. Main outcome measures: Mortality from paracetamol or salicylate overdose; numbers of patients referred to liver units or listed for liver transplant; numbers of transplantations; numbers of overdoses and tablets taken; blood concentrations of the drugs; prothrombin times; sales to pharmacies and other outlets of paracetamol and salicylates. Results: Numbers of tablets per pack of paracetamol and salicylates decreased markedly in the year after the change in legislation on 16 September 1998. The annual number of deaths from paracetamol poisoning decreased by 21% (95% confidence interval 5% to 34%) and the number from salicylates decreased by 48% (11% to 70%). Liver transplant rates after paracetamol poisoning decreased by 66% (55% to 74%). The rate of non-fatal self poisoning with paracetamol in any form decreased by 11% (5% to 16%), mainly because of a 15% (8% to 21%) reduction in overdoses of paracetamol in non-compound form. The average number of tablets taken in paracetamol overdoses decreased by 7% (0% to 12%), and the proportion involving >32 tablets decreased by 17% (4% to 28%). The average number of tablets taken in salicylate overdoses did not decrease, but 34% fewer (2% to 56%) salicylate overdoses involved >32 tablets. After the legislation mean blood concentrations of salicylates after overdose decreased, as did prothrombin times; mean blood concentrations of paracetamol did not change. Conclusion: Legislation restricting pack sizes of paracetamol and salicylates in the United Kingdom has had substantial beneficial effects on mortality and morbidity associated with self poisoning using these drugs. What is already known on this topic Paracetamol and salicylate overdoses are very common in the United Kingdom and are associated with high levels of mortality and morbidity International comparison shows that national mortality from paracetamol overdose may be related to the maximum number of tablets in individual preparations Legislation to limit the size of packs of paracetamol and salicylates was introduced in the United Kingdom in September 1998 What this study adds The number of tablets in packets of paracetamol and salicylate preparations decreased markedly in the 12 months after the legislation The number of deaths from self poisoning with paracetamol alone and with salicylates alone decreased after the legislation There was also a decrease in the number of liver transplants and admissions to liver units with hepatic paracetamol poisoning and in the number of overdoses of paracetamol and salicylates in which large numbers of tablets were taken

Deliberate self-harm in Oxford, 1990–2000: a time of change in patient characteristics

BACKGROUND Trends in deliberate self-harm (DSH) are important because they have implications for hospital services, may indicate levels of psychopathology in the community and future trends in suicide, and can assist in identification of means of suicide prevention. METHOD We have investigated trends in DSH and characteristics of DSH patients between 1990 and 2000 based on data collected through the Oxford Monitoring System for Attempted Suicide. RESULTS During the 11-year study period 8590 individuals presented following 13858 DSH episodes. The annual numbers of persons and episodes increased overall by 36.3% and 63.1% respectively. Rates (Oxford City) declined, however, in the final 3 years. There were gender- and age-specific changes, with a rise in DSH rates in males aged > or = 55 years and in females overall and those aged 15-24 years and 35-54 years. Repetition of DSH increased markedly during the study period. Antidepressant overdoses, especially of SSRIs, increased substantially. Paracetamol overdoses declined towards the end of the study period. Alcohol abuse, use of alcohol in association with DSH, and violence increased, especially in females, and the proportion of patients in current psychiatric care and misusing drugs also rose. CONCLUSIONS While overall rates of DSH did not increase markedly between 1990 and 2000, substantial changes in the characteristics of the DSH population and a rise in repetition suggest that the challenges facing clinical services in the management of DSH patients have grown.