The researchers assessed the health records of 53,240 patients with rheumatoid arthritis and 13,964 with ankylosing spondylitis to evaluate the prevalence of self-harm behaviors. Patients with a history of mental illness and those who had harmed themselves prior to receiving their diagnosis were excluded from the analysis.
The most frequent methods of self-harm were poisoning — 64 percent in the ankylosing spondylitis group and 81 percent in the rheumatoid arthritis group and self-mutilation —36 percent and 18 percent respectively.
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