TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2014//
TI  - The iceberg of suicide and self-harm in Irish adolescents: a population-based study
JO  - Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology
A1  - McMahon, Elaine M.
A1  - Keeley, Helen
A1  - Cannon, Mary
A1  - Arensman, Ella
A1  - Perry, Ivan J.
A1  - Clarke, Mary
A1  - Chambers, Derek
A1  - Corcoran, Paul
SP  - 1929
EP  - 1935
VL  - 49
IS  - 12
N2  - PURPOSE: Suicide is a leading cause of death among adolescents. Self-harm is the most important risk factor for suicide, yet the majority of self-harm does not come to the attention of health services. The purpose of this study was to establish the relative incidence of adolescent suicide, hospital-treated self-harm and self-harm in the community. <br><br>METHODS: Annual suicide rates were calculated for 15-17 year-old in the Cork and Kerry region in Ireland based on data from the Central Statistics Office. Rates of hospital-treated self-harm were collected by the Irish National Registry of Deliberate Self-Harm. Rates of self-harm in the community were assessed using a survey of 3,881 adolescents, the Child and Adolescent Self-harm in Europe study. <br><br>RESULTS: The annual suicide rate was 10/100,000. Suicide was six times more common among boys than girls. The annual incidence rate of hospital-treated self-harm was approximately 344/100,000, with the female rate almost twice the male rate. The rate of self-harm in the community was 5,551/100,000, and girls were almost four times more likely to report self-harm. For every boy who died by suicide, 16 presented to hospital with self-harm and 146 reported self-harm in the community. For every female suicide, 162 girls presented to hospital with self-harm and 3,296 reported self-harm. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Gender differences in relative rates of self-harm and suicide are very large, with boys who have harmed themselves at particularly high risk of suicide. Knowledge of the relative incidence of self-harm and suicide in adolescents can inform prevention programmes and services.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0933-7954
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00127-014-0907-z
ID  - ref1
ER  -