Effects of Psychiatric Admissions on Self-harm and Suicide in People With Borderline Personality Disorder

The current study aims to evaluate the impact of long (>5 days) and/or compulsory psychiatric inpatient care on subsequent healthcare utilization for self-harm and suicide in people with borderline personality disorder, a condition characterized by frequent self-harm.

The basis for this study is the diversity of clinical practices across Swedish regions. By categorizing clinics based on their practices with respect to long and/or compulsory psychiatric inpatient care, it is possible to explore the impact of these practices on subsequent somatic and psychiatric healthcare, including emergency care due to self-harm as well as on completed suicides.

All psychiatric clinics across Sweden authorized to administer compulsory care for adults, totalling 78 clinics will be included. Each clinic per specific calendar year will represent one participant, identified by the clinic's name and the respective year (e.g., Umeå2010, Linköping2013, Malmö2022).

Data collection will involve the utilization of the national registers to capture outcome measures and account for confounding factors. The participants will be ranked based on a composite variable, which includes the average number of days spent in inpatient compulsory care and other psychiatric inpatient care exceeding 5 days, among individuals diagnosed with BPD. The top quartile of participants will be compared with the bottom quartile.