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Effect of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic on Suicide-Related Trauma Burden at a Level 1 Trauma Center.
Eden, Claire M; Zhu, Roger; Khedr, Shahenda; Khariton, Konstantin.
  • Eden CM; Department of Surgery, New York-Presbyterian/Queens, Queens, New York, USA.
  • Zhu R; Department of Surgery, New York-Presbyterian/Queens, Queens, New York, USA.
  • Khedr S; Department of Surgery, New York-Presbyterian/Queens, Queens, New York, USA.
  • Khariton K; Department of Surgery, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York-Presbyterian, New York, USA.
J Emerg Trauma Shock ; 15(2): 88-92, 2022.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1934366
ABSTRACT

Introduction:

In March 2020, the first coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases were reported in New York and a stay-at-home order was enacted soon after. Social isolation combined with pandemic-related stressors profoundly affected mental health. We hypothesize that there was an increase in violent suicide attempt during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown compared to previous years.

Methods:

We queried our institutional trauma registry for total number of trauma activations and identified adult patients with International Classification of Diseases-10 diagnosis of intentional self-harm. We compared incidence during the lockdown to corresponding time periods from previous years. Demographic and injury characteristics were compared, as were outcomes such as mortality.

Results:

We observe a significant uptrend in patients requiring trauma intervention after suicide attempts from July 2019 through July 2020 (r = 0.8, P < 0.001) despite a significant downtrend in trauma volume at our institution during the same period (r = ‒0.7, P = 0.003). Although not statistically significant, patients attempting violent suicide during lockdown were more likely to have preexisting psychiatric diagnoses, to live alone, to have injury severity score >9, and to require surgical intervention. Three COVID-period patients died in the emergency room compared to zero in the comparison group.

Conclusion:

Our data show a rise in violent suicide attempts during the pandemic lockdown despite an overall decrease in trauma volume. The ramifications of a stay-at-home order seem to have the most profound impact on individuals with preexisting mental health disease. Early establishment of mental health outreach programs may mitigate the reverberating psychosocial consequences of a pandemic.
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Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Type of study: Experimental Studies / Observational study / Prognostic study Language: English Journal: J Emerg Trauma Shock Year: 2022 Document Type: Article Affiliation country: Jets.jets_142_21

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Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Type of study: Experimental Studies / Observational study / Prognostic study Language: English Journal: J Emerg Trauma Shock Year: 2022 Document Type: Article Affiliation country: Jets.jets_142_21