Typology of Self-injurious Behaviors Admitted to a Tertiary Care Hospital

If we can classify self-injurious behaviors without a priori assumptions about related variables, it could contribute to the nosology of self-injurious behaviors with etiological and management underpinnings.

A cross-sectional study was conducted among 90 adult subjects consecutively admitted to the medical and surgical wards of a tertiary care center. In addition to socio-demographic and relevant clinical variables, intent, lethality, impulsivity, social support, and stressful life events were measured. K-means cluster analysis was used to delineate groups.

Hierarchical cluster analysis followed by K-means cluster analysis yielded three groups and their characteristics. The first group consisted of older individuals with high lethality and intent, and low impulsivity. Mental illnesses such as depressive disorder and delusional disorder were more common in this group compared to the others. The second group showed some impulsivity and poor perceived social support. Their attempts were characterized by lower lethality and intent. The third group included the youngest individuals, with high impulsivity and high mean stress scores despite having high perceived social support. Both the second and third groups had a fair representation of borderline personality disorder.

Adults with self-injurious behaviors could be divided into three distinct clusters, which has implications for nosology, etiological models, and management.