Epidemiological Study on Patients Hospitalized in Imam Musa Kazim Hospital, Isfahan, Iran, due to Self-Immolation during the Years 2010-2014

Self-immolation is among the most damaging types of injuries from burns, causes serious physical injuries and has psychological and economic effects on the person and his or her family. This study assessed the epidemiological characteristics of patients hospitalized in Imam Musa Kazim hospital, Isfahan, Iran, due to self-immolation during a 5-years period.
In this retrospective cross-sectional study, all records of the patients hospitalized due to self-immolation during the years 2010-2014 were assessed. Then, information such as age, sex, marital status, employment, etc. was extracted by using a researcher-made checklist. The data were analyzed using SPSS software in both descriptive and analytic aspects.
Findings: Out of 450 participants, who had self-immolation during the studied 5 years, 373 patients (82.9%) were women and 77 patients (17.1%) were men. 366 patients (74.7%) were married and 114 (25.3%) were single. Most of the studied patients (68.4%) were in the age category of 20-39 years old. 74.0 percent of the patients were housewives. Self-immolation was more prevalent in spring than in other seasons. About half of the patients (49.1%) died of self-immolation. The hospitalization duration of 10 to 15 days and the burning level of 31 to 70 percent (32.2% and 47.5%, respectively) were more prevalent.
According to the results of this study and most of the similar studies, housewife married women in the age category of 20-29 years, are subject to eliminate their lives via self-immolation more than any other people.