CIHI Report Says Intentional Self-Harm on Rise Teenage Girls

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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A recent report issued on intentional injuries among youth, released by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) on Tuesday, has revealed that the number of girls admitted to hospital for “cutting” injuries has nearly doubled in the past five years. The study looked into reports from several hospitals all across the country, except Quebec, and highlighted the number of young people (ages 10 to 17) being hurt by themselves or by others.

The report factored in more than 17,500 hospitalizations in 2013-14 and found out that 80 per cent of them were self-harmed intentional injuries. It also mentioned that the number of hospitalizations for self-harm has increased by more than 85 per cent in five years, adding that girls account for 80 per cent of young people admitted for self-harm injury. Furthermore, the number of girls admitted for cutting themselves with a sharp object also increased up to 173 in 2013-14 compared to 91 almost five years earlier, i.e. a 90 per cent increase. Manager of decision support and trauma registries at CIHI, Juliana Wu, stated that “the most startling finding is the dramatic increase in hospital admission for self harm among our young people,” adding that “we knew from previous studies that this type of behaviour is there, but just seeing the numbers and the upward trend is particularly distressing.”

Meanwhile, head of psychiatry at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa, Dr. Kathleen Pajer, also remarked that “it certainly confirms our experience as care providers across North America,” adding that “in the last three to five years there’s really been a surge in kids who are selfharming, particularly the girls.”