High risk of self-harm in first year of dementia diagnosis: UNSW study
Dementia diagnoses need to be viewed with a sense of urgency, researchers say
Patients recently diagnosed with dementia are at increased risk of self-harm, especially within the first 6-12 months of diagnosis, a large Australian study shows.
Those living with dementia who self-harm are also more likely to be men, be aged around 70 at diagnosis, and have a pre-existing “complex” psychiatric profile, say UNSW Sydney-led researchers.
The team scrutinised data from more than 180,000 people admitted to NSW hospitals between 2001 and 2015, including those with dementia and those admitted for self-harm injuries.
Of the 154,811 people recorded as having dementia, 692 were readmitted to hospital for self-harm within 12 months of the first visit for dementia.
