A cross-sectional epidemiological study of non-suicidal self-injury prevalence in Chinese psychiatric patients

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a common behaviour among psychiatric patients that is easily overlooked and often brings serious consequences. The current literature is limited to certain groups and uses different diagnostic criteria. Here our aim was to investigate the prevalence of NSSI in psychiatric patients in China. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition diagnostic criteria were used to conduct a 2-week cross-sectional survey of all psychiatric patients presenting to 15 hospitals in 14 cities across 8 provinces in China during this period. A total of 3,298 psychiatric patients were included. The highest prevalence of NSSI behaviour was found in adolescents aged 10–19 years (14.3%). The prevalence of NSSI behaviour in females in outpatients (16.9%) and inpatients of child and adolescent psychiatric departments (19.6%), outpatients (5.9%) and inpatients adult psychiatric departments (7.7%) was significantly higher than in males. The prevalence of NSSI behaviour in patients with personality disorders was significantly higher than in any other diagnostic group (46.7%, χ 2 = 195.239, P < 0.000). The prevalence of NSSI in psychiatric patients is high, especially in adolescents. Therefore, it is necessary to inform patients and medical workers to effectively treat and manage NSSI.