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Profile of Hospital Admissions due to Self‐Inflicted Harm in Los Angeles County from 2001 to 2010 |
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| Authors: | Shahrzad Bazargan‐Hejazi PhD Alireza Ahmadi MD PhD Mohsen Bazargan PhD Elham Rahmani MD Deyu Pan MS Golara Zahmatkesh MD Stacey Teruya EdD MS |
| Affiliation: | 1. College of Medicine, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, Los Angeles, CA;2. David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California, Los Angeles, CA;3. Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran;4. Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, Roanoke, VA;5. Sue & Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center, University of California, Irvine, CA |
| Abstract: | We aimed to describe the demographic profile of self‐inflicted harm (SIH) in Los Angeles County between 2001 and 2010 and to investigate trends over this 10‐year period. We used the California Hospital Discharge Data to investigate all cases of hospital admission due to SIH, including suicide attempts and if they had a concurrent psychiatric diagnosis based on ICD‐9 codes. African‐Americans (AA) had the highest 10‐year SIH admission rates. SIH admission rates remained steady throughout the 10‐year study period. Median age of SIH was significantly lower in Latinos. Episodic mood disorders were the most common psychiatric comorbidity. The use of solid/liquid poisoning was the most common SIH method among all racial/ethnic groups. We found major disparities in SIH admissions across racial/ethnic subgroups. The importance of programs to identify, prevent, and treat SIH in these groups is discussed. |
| Keywords: | forensic science self‐inflicted harm behavior/epidemiology self‐inflicted harm/racial group solid/liquid poisoning hospital admission substance abuse |
