Suicide, self-harm, and suicide-related behaviours in Canada: Self-harm

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• Context
• Self-harm in Canada
• Suggested citation

Context

Self-harm is defined as when a person harms themselves on purpose, regardless of whether there is an intent to die. Although self-harm is not the same as suicide, self-harm can escalate into suicidal behaviours. This section focuses on intentional self-harm that resulted in hospitalization.

Self-harm hospitalizations are underestimated in these statistics, as some injuries may have been presumed to be accidental or undetermined. Self-harm hospitalizations are also more likely to capture severe cases of self-harm that required medical attention.

For data on self-harm that resulted in emergency department visits, check out the Data tool

Self-harm in Canada

Key findings

• Rates of self-harm hospitalization vary by region across Canada. For example, they are higher than the national average in the territories and lower than the national average in Manitoba and Nova Scotia.
• Self-harm affects people of all ages but is more common among youth and, in particular, among girls. Rates are highest among those aged 15 to 19 years. In this age group, girls are hospitalized at about four times the rate of boys.
• The greatest difference in self-harm hospitalization rates between men and women is among children aged 10 to 14 years, where the rate for girls is approximately eight times the rate for boys.
• Rates of hospitalizations for self-harm decline after early adulthood (ages 25-44). Starting in the age group 25-44, the differences in rates between women and men also starts to narrow with age, with smaller gaps observed in middle and older adulthood.

Figure 1. Age-standardized self-harm hospitalization rates per 100,000 people, in people aged 10 years and older in Canada (excluding Quebec), by province and territory, ...

Notes

• The age-standardized self-harm hospitalization rates in Canada are from the Canadian Institute of Health Information (...).
  • Reasons for admission to acute-care hospital discharges are coded using the 10^th revision of the World Health Organization’s International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10).
  • Data for Quebec are not available and therefore not shown.
  • Codes X60 to X84 are used to identify self-harm hospitalizations.
• Learn more:
  • Self-harm hospitalizations (Canadian Institute for Health Information)

Figure 1: Text description

Figure 2. Age-specific self-harm hospitalization rates per 100,000 people aged 10 years and older in Canada (excluding Quebec) by age group and sex, ...

Notes

• The age-specific self-harm hospitalization rates in Canada are from the Canadian Institute of Health Information (...).
  • Reasons for admission to acute-care hospital discharges are coded using the 10^th revision of the World Health Organization's International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10).
  • Data for Quebec are not available and therefore not shown.
  • Codes X60 to X84 are used to identify self-harm hospitalizations.

• Learn more:
  • Self-harm hospitalizations (Canadian Institute for Health Information)

Figure 2: Text description

Suggested citation

Public Health Agency of Canada. Suicide, self-harm and suicide-related behaviours in Canada: .... Ottawa: Public Health Agency of Canada; ....