Clinical and Psychiatric Profile of Patients Admitted with Violent Self-harm at a Tertiary Care Level 1 Apex Trauma Center in North India Over a Period of 5 Years
Nishtha Chawla, Sarthak Kukreja, Rahul Mathur, Anureet Kaur Chandi, Junaid Alam, Pratyusha Priyadarshini, Dinesh Kumar Bagaria, Narendra Choudhary, Abhinav Kumar, Subodh Kumar, Amit Gupta, Biplab Mishra, Rakesh Kumar Chadda, Sushma SagarAbstract
Introduction:
Violent self-harm attempts broadly comprise all methods of self-harm attempts except poisoning. Limited research is available on patients with violent self-harm attempts. This study aims to examine sociodemographic and clinical profiles of inpatients with a history of intentional self-harm at a Level-I trauma center in North India.
Methods:
We reviewed records of a tertiary care trauma center from January 2018 to April 2023, of inpatients admitted for self-harm through methods such as cuts, stabs, or falls. Data was collected from hospital records and computerized systems, focusing on demographic details, injury specifics, and psychiatric referral notes.
Results:
The audit included 104 patients, predominantly male (89%), with a mean age of 33.2 years. The most common injuries were neck cuts (38.5%) and stab wounds (28.8%). A majority (67.3%) received psychiatric referrals, with impulsive self-harm and mood/adjustment disorders being the most frequent diagnoses. Three patients (2.9%) died during their hospital stay.
Conclusion:
Despite higher severity of self-harm, about one-third of patients did not receive psychiatric referrals, potentially due to prioritization of trauma care. The findings suggest the need for integrating dedicated mental health services within trauma centers to improve patient outcomes.