Psychosocial and Clinical Profiles of the Cases Visiting the Emergency Department Due to Accidental Self-harm and Suicid
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Psychosocial and Clinical Profiles of the Cases Visiting the Emergency Department Due to Accidental Self‑harm and Suicide Attempts in Doha, Qatar: A Retrospective Study Hassen Al‑Amin1 · Rajvir Singh2 · Mohamad Abdulrazzak3 · Suhaila Ghuloum4,5 Received: 27 January 2019 / Accepted: 27 May 2020 © The Author(s) 2020
Abstract The aims of this study were to retrospectively assess the profiles of subjects with suicide attempts and self-harm in Doha, Qatar; and whether the available data were complete. We reviewed all the records of fatal and non-fatal suicides together with accidental self-ham cases seen in the major Emergency Department in Doha, over a one-year period. There was 37 completed suicide, mostly male expatriates in mid 30 s who died by hanging. In cases with suicide intent (N = 270), more males were admitted to Psychiatry than women. Overdose was the common method and the majority had mood disorders. In self-harm cases with no suicide intent (N = 150) the majority were not seen by Psychiatry. The profiles of suicide cases in Qatar are similar to those reported internationally. However, there is a major need to establish a comprehensive system to register and assess all self-harm patients in Qatar. Keywords Suicide attempt · Accidental self-harm · Parasuicide · Emergency department · Qatar
Introduction World Health Organization (WHO) defines suicide as “the act of deliberately killing oneself” and self-harm as “an act with non-fatal outcome, in which an individual deliberately * Suhaila Ghuloum [email protected] http://www.hmc.org.qa Hassen Al‑Amin haa2019@qatar‑med.cornell.edu Rajvir Singh [email protected] Mohamad Abdulrazzak [email protected] 1
Department of Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medicine, Doha, Qatar
2
Department of Cardiology, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar
3
Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar
4
Department of Psychiatry, Hamad Medical Corporation, P.O. Box 3050, Doha, Qatar
5
Weill Cornel Medicine-Qatar, Doha, Qatar
initiates a non-habitual behavior…” (WHO 2014). Many acts of self-harm are not associated with suicidal intent. They may be an attempt to communicate with others, to call for help from others or a way of obtaining relief from a problematic and otherwise overwhelming situation or emotional state (Hjelmeland et al. 2002). WHO recognizes suicide as a global public health issue, reporting that 800,000 people die from suicide each year (WHO 2014). It has also been shown that for every suicide death there are 20–50 suicide attempts. In people between the 15 and 29 years old, suicide is the first cause of death in several countries and the second cause in many other countries. Worldwide, 78% of suicides occur in low- to middle-income countries (WHO Suicide 2018). Following an act of self-harm, the rate of suicide increases to 50–100 times the rate in the general population (Hawton et al. 2003; Owens et al. 2002). Men who self-harm are more than twice as likely to die by suicide as women and the risk
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