analysis and description of suicidal burns admitted to al-fayhaa general hospital in basra, iraq

Suicide by self-burning remains a common method of suicide amongst women in iraq and some neighboring countries. this study aimed to describe the problem of self-burning in basra province and investigate the associated factors. a prospective study was undertaken between october 2016 and may 2017 in al-fayhaa burn center. data were collected from all patients admitted to the center for a self-inflicted burn. sociodemographic information and cause of suicide were obtained using an interviewer-administered questionnaire, and clinical data were transcribed from hospital records. there were 62 cases (females 74%, males 26%) of self-burning during the 6 months data collection accounting for 22% of all burn admission. the age ranged from 9-56 years (mean 25.3, sd 10.8 year). the vast majority had no or only basic education (92%), 55% were married, 60% were from outside basra city and 53% considered themselves from a poor socioeconomic background. the incident mostly occurred at home (84%) while the person was alone (91%) using kerosene as the burning material (82%). the total burn surface area ranged from 20-100% with a median of 80% (iqr 60-95). the median hospital stay was 5 days (iqr 1-12 days). in-hospital mortality rate was 72.6%. suicide by self-burning seems not to be uncommon in basra and require more attention from public health and social services. more research is required to provide a better estimation of the problem and in-depth understanding of the factors that contribute to the problem.