Self-harm, suicide ideation and subsequent mortality

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Examining the factors associated with self-harm, suicide ideation and subsequent mortality through data linkage.

• IRAS ID

  269120

• Contact name

  Aideen Maguire

• Contact email

  a.maguire@qub.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  Queen's University Belfast

• Duration of Study in the UK

  3 years, 0 months, 31 days

• Research summary

  Death by suicide is a major public health concern, with over a million completed suicides reported every year worldwide. In Northern Ireland (NI), the Government invests approximately £6.7 million annually on suicide prevention through the implementation of strategies such as “Protect Life” but rates here continue to rise while they decrease across the rest of the UK. Northern Ireland (NI) has the highest rates of suicide and self-harm (SH) in the UK, with SH affecting 373/100,000 of the population compared to an estimated 280/100,000 in England and 206/100,000 in Ireland. Our understanding of the predictors of suicide is not well advanced. Some studies suggest that suicidal behaviours such as SH and suicide ideation (SI) are important predictors of completed suicide, however, not everyone who self-harms or reports suicide ideation goes on to die by suicide.
  Few longitudinal studies exist to inform on the long-term outcomes of SH and SI after their initial presentation. However, Northern Ireland (NI) is unique as it has a population-wide Registry of Self-Harm, recording all presentations of SH and SI to all Emergency Departments across NI since 2012. The proposed project will link this data to additional health, Census and death data to generate a unique dataset of health and social information to achieve a better understanding of the risk factors associated with SH, SI and subsequent mortality. Understanding the complex association between SH, SI and risk of completed suicide is vital in helping to identify those most at risk and who may benefit from interventions to reduce deaths by suicide. The findings of this study will therefore help inform clinical practice and the development of evidence-based suicide prevention strategies.

• REC name

  London - Riverside Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  19/LO/1601

• Date of REC Opinion

  27 Sep 2019

• REC opinion

  Favourable Opinion