Deliberate Self-Harm Among Patients Attending Tanta University Hospitals: a Descriptive Cross-Sectional Comparative Case–Control Study

Authors

1 Resident at Neuropsychiatry Department, Faculty of Medicine, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt.

2 Departments of Neuropsychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt.

3 Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt.

Abstract

Background
Deliberate self-harm (DSH) is a nonsuicidal self-injury defined as the conscious, self-inflicted, body tissue destruction without the intention of committing suicide include cutting, burning, biting, scratching or rubbing the skin excessively, self-hitting, head-banging or hitting fists against objects, ingesting an object, and jumping from a height with the intention of causing self-harm. The work aimed to evaluate the DSH prevalence and psychiatric comorbidities among patients with DSH and to find the relation between DSH and other factors such as sociodemographic and psychosocial.
Patients and Methods
This descriptive cross-sectional comparative case–control research was conducted on 150 patients who are able to read and write and be cooperative for the research methods. Participants were divided in to two groups: group A included 100 patients with DSH behavior for further assessment, and group B included 50 patients as a control group with no history of self-harm behavior. All participants underwent a clinical interview, which was structured for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition disorders (SCID I) axis I disorders (major mental disorders), structured clinical interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition disorders (SCID II) axis II disorders (personality disorders), psychometric assessment, and laboratory investigation.
Results
Female sex and low socioeconomic level were significantly associated with high self-punishment questionnaire score (P <0.05). Regarding self-punishment questionnaire score, there was a significant negative correlation with age of study patients (P= 0.01) and significant positive correlations with levels of serum b-endorphins (P <0.001).
Conclusions
There was obvious relation between personality disorders in the study sample and DSH behavior.

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