Self-inflicted burns: a 5-year retrospective study

Forty-two patients who had attempted suicide by burning were admitted to the North West Thames Regional Burns Unit over a 5-year period. Over three-quarters of these patients had previous psychiatric illness and a quarter had previously attempted suicide. In no case was political or religious protest a motive. The number of non-Caucasians was higher than expected from population statistics and fatal burns were more common in this group. The mean age was 36 years and the overall mortality rate was 48 per cent. The mortality was not significantly higher than for accidental burns of comparable severity.