Traumatic injuries associated with suicide attempts: A retrospective study from single national level 1 trauma center

Abstract

Background: Suicide is a complex phenomenon involving several risk factors. We aimed to describe the frequency, pattern, and outcomes of patients with traumatic injuries following suicide attempts admitted to a level 1 trauma center. Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of data obtained from Qatar National Trauma Registry and mortuary database. The study included all patients with traumatic injuries following suicide attempts, admitted to the Hamad Trauma Center (HTC) from April 2008 to March 2018. Results: During this 10–year period, 206 patients were admitted to the HTC for injuries associated with suicide attempts. The majority were males (76%), young age (mean age 31 years), and expatriates specifically from South Asia (55%). The most common injury was due to self-inflicted cutting and piercing (51%) followed by jumping from height (30%). Females chose jumping from high place more often as a method of suicide attempt (59% vs. 20%), while males chose self-stabbing or cutting their throat (59% vs. 25%) ( P = 0.001). Most of the patients had head injuries (30%) that was severe in terms of abbreviated injury scale score (3.6 ± 0.9). More than half (54%) of the patients required psychiatric consultations. The in-hospital mortality was 8% which was comparable in both genders. Conclusions: The present study revealed that 1.8% of trauma admissions at HTC were related to suicidal attempts. Better understanding of risk factors is important in devising preventive strategies.

In‐school adolescents' sociodemographic correlates of serious unintentional injuries in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: A cross‐sectional study

“…Akin to previous studies, 7,10,29,30 the study found teenagers who attempted suicide were 1.5 times more likely to be seriously injured than peers who did not attempt suicide. Some studies also established the predictive effect of suicidal ideation on the occurrence of injuries, 6,10,12,13 which was not found in the current study even after adjusting for other variables.…”

Suicide Data in Trauma Centers: Implications of Imprecision

“…However, they do state a concern about underestimating self-inflicted injuries due to nontrauma activated penetrating injuries (Bukur et al, 2011). Al-Thani et al (2020) used the Qatar National Trauma Registry, excluding nonsuicidal self-injury but making no distinction between intentional and unintentional injuries. In another characterization of suicide attempts at a trauma center, Hadjizacharia et al (2010) recognized the limitations of the ICD-9 as possibly missing “a number of patients who presented with injuries that were not classified as self-inflicted” (p. 417).…”