Summary.In this study 368 patients were interviewed after they had attended the Bristol Royal Infirmary Accident and Emergency Department following a non-fatal act of deliberate self-harm. There were twice as many women (@‘) as men (i 21), and two thirds of the patients were in the 15â€"35 age group. Ninety five per cent had taken a drug overdose, most commonly one or more of the tranquilizers, antidepressants, hypnotics or analgesics. Seventy-eight per cent had taken drugs prescribed by a doctor. Half the patients mentioned inter personal conflict as a major precipitating factor in the episode. A psychiatric diagnosis was completed for all admitted patients, of whom 52 per cent were considered to be suffering from neurotic depression, 29 per cent from personality disorder, 12 per cent from functional psychosis and 10 per cent from alcohol addiction. Almost half had deliberately harmed themselves on a previous occasion. The series showed a greater than average incidence of unemployment, overcrowded living conditions, divorce and antisocial behaviour. The implica tions of these findings for the clinical management and prevention of non-fatal deliberate self-harm are discussed.

SUMMARY All blind and partially sighted registration forms for the county of Avon for a two-year period were analysed, and the findings are presented. Comparisons with the national figure published by Sorsby over 20 years ago show there has been no marked change in the rates of blind registration per 100 000 population with the exception of those for cataract, which show a large reduction. Diabetic registrations have remained similar, but this may represent an encouraging trend in view of the significant increase in the size of the diabetic population. Glaucoma may show some improvement in the future when time has elapsed for beta blockers and trabeculoplasty to be fully assessed. There has been an increase in the rate of registration from aging macular degeneration.

Two-hundred-and-seventy-nine patients (103 men, 176 women) were followed-up 1-2 years after an act of non-fatal deliberate self-harm. Of 155 patients offered a psychiatric out-patient appointment at the time, only 68 completed the treatment. A further act of deliberate self-harm was committed by 26 men and 41 women within twelve months. The factors most highly associated with repetition were previous psychiatric treatment, a previous act of deliberate self-harm, and a criminal record. These factors held good for a separate series of patients. Significantly more repeaters received prolonged psychiatric care after the initial episode of deliberate self-harm. The implications of these findings for the clinical management of such patients are discussed.

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The difference between the mean operative delays in the two groups was therefore 43 hours (95% confidence interval 41-35 to 44-45 h; t=6 0 143 df; p