Identifying typologies among persons admitted to hospital for non-fatal intentional self-harm in Victoria, Australia

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine whether people who have been hospitalised as the result of non-fatal self-harm form meaningful groups based on mechanism of injury, and demographic and mental health-related factors. Methods: A retrospective analysis of 18,103 hospital admissions for self-harm in Victoria, Australia over the 3-year period 2014/2015–2016/2017 recorded on the Victorian Admitted Episodes Dataset (VAED). The VAED records all hospital admissions in public and private hospitals in Victoria. The primary analysis used a two-step method of cluster analysis. Initial analysis determined two distinct groups, one composed of individuals who had a recorded mental illness dia..