National Self-Harm Registry Ireland (NSHRI)

Data Collection Type
National data collections of health and social care in Ireland
Organisation

National Suicide Research Foundation (NSRF) on behalf of Department of Health. The NSHRI is funded by the HSE’s National Office for Suicide Prevention.

Year established

1995 (at a regional level).
2006 (all hospital emergency departments included).

Statement of purpose

The NSHRI is a national surveillance system which gathers information on hospital presenting self-harm at Emergency Departments in all hospitals across Ireland. The aims of the NSHRI are:
- to establish the extent and nature of hospital presenting self-harm in Ireland
- to monitor trends over time and by area
- to contribute to policy development in the area of suicidal behaviour
- to help the progress of research and prevention.

All acute public hospitals, both general and paediatric, contribute data to the NSHRI. Private hospitals are not included.

Coverage (geographical and temporal)

National – all acute public hospitals, both general and paediatric, contribute data to the NSHRI.
Data collection for the NSHRI commenced at a regional level in 1995 and expanded to full national coverage in 2006.
Data collection is ongoing.

Description/Summary

The NSHRI is a national system of population monitoring for the occurrence of self-harm in Ireland.

Data users

HSE, policymakers, clinical teams and researchers.

Data content

The NSHRI gathers information on hospital presentations of self-harm including: date and hour of attendance at hospital; mode of transport to hospital; method(s) of self-harm; type and quantity of drugs taken (if applicable); medical card status; recommended next care. Patient details include area of residence, sex and age.

Data dictionary

Yes, the full data dictionary is available on our website. http://nsrf.ie/

National-level identifier variables

National-level identifier variables (e.g. PPSN, IHI) are not included in the NSHRI.

Equity stratifiers

Sex, age and area of residence are gathered by the NSHRI. The NSHRI relies on information collected at hospital level.

Data collection methodology

Data on self-harm presentations are extracted at the presenting hospital by NSHRI trained data registration officers. Data is transferred electronically to the offices of the NSRF.
NSHRI data are collected on a weekly basis.

Clinical coding scheme

Method(s) of self-harm are recorded according to the World Health Organisation’s International Classification of Disease (ICD-10).

Size of national collection

The NSHRI records approximately 12,500 presentations annually.

Publication frequency

The findings from the NSHRI are disseminated each year via an annual report. In addition to this, interim reports are published every six months. NSHRI data are also published in peer-reviewed publications. Periodic reports are prepared for relevant agencies (e.g. National Office for Suicide Prevention). A list of NSHRI-related publications is accessible via www.nsrf.ie

Accessing data

Data can be accessed via annual and interim reports. Aggregate data is also available, on request.

Open data portal access

No.

Email contact
Telephone contact
Other comments

In 2015, the NSHRI was recognised by the World Health Organisation as a template for self-harm surveillance for countries at global level. The NSHRI template was used to produce a Practice Manual for Establishing and Maintaining Surveillance Systems for Suicide Attempts and Self-Harm (WHO, 2016).