Self-inflicted burns in Mosul: a cross-sectional study

A cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate the different characteristics of attempted suicide by self-inflicted burn cases compared with other accidental burn cases admitted to the Burns Unit in Al-Jumhoori Teaching Hospital in Mosul over a one-year period from March 1, 2011 to March 1, 2012. Of 459 burn cases, 103 (22.44%) had self-inflicted burns. The mean total body surface area of suicide attempters was 61%, markedly higher than in other cases (20%) (P= 0.0001). Among all self-inflicted burn cases, burns were caused by flame, while scald was the commonest cause (56.5%) in accidental burns. There was a significant difference in the sex ratio between self-inflicted burn cases (1:11.9) and accidental burn cases (1:1) (P = 0.0001). Case fatality rates for self-inflicted burn and accidental burn cases were 80.6% and 14.9%, respectively. The overall mean ages for self-inflicted burn and accidental burn cases were 24.3 and 15.6 years, respectively. Compared to all other burn cases, self-inflicted burn cases had a significantly larger mean percentage of surface body area burned (61.0±28.2 versus 20.7±15.8; P = 0.0001). In conclusion, self-inflicted burns remain a common cause of admission to our burn unit. The extent of burns is often large, since most suicide attempters use an accelerant that accounts for the high mortality in this group.