Trend of suicide by self-immolation in a 13-year timeline: was the COVID-19 pandemic a potentially important stressor?

Self-immolation is an uncommon way of attempting and committing a suicide, with a fatality rate of 80%. The risk factors in self-immolation victims vary depending on demographic characteristics, socio-economic and cultural factors as well as religious beliefs. Whether the COVID-19 pandemic was a pot...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Frontiers in public health Vol. 12; p. 1234584
Main Authors:	Jeremic, Jelena V, Mihaljevic, Jovan M, Radosavljevic, Ivan L J, Jurisic, Milana M, Suđecki, Branko J, Stojicic, Milan T, Jovanović, Milan D, Pavlovic, Zorana, Radenovic, Kristina G, Milic, Nikola V, Pavlovic, Vedrana, Milic, Natasa M, Jovic, Marko S
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Switzerland Frontiers Media S.A 21-02-2024
Subjects:	burns COVID-19 joinpoint regression mental health Public Health self-immolation suicide COVID-19 joinpoint regression self-immolation mental health suicide burns
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	Self-immolation is an uncommon way of attempting and committing a suicide, with a fatality rate of 80%. The risk factors in self-immolation victims vary depending on demographic characteristics, socio-economic and cultural factors as well as religious beliefs. Whether the COVID-19 pandemic was a potentially important stressor for self-immolation is still unknown, with insufficient studies examining this issue. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to examine the trend of self-immolation in a 13-year timeline, and the potential association of COVID-19 pandemic with the increase in the incidence and severity of self-immolation injuries in Serbia in 2021. The study included hospitalized patients due to intentional burns caused by self-immolation in the period from January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2021. Joinpoint regression analysis was used for the analysis of continuous linear trends of self-immolation cases with change points. While a rising trend was observed in the 2008-2013 time segment, followed by a decline in the upcoming 2013-2016 time segment, a significant increase reached its maximum during COVID-19 pandemic (2021), with annual percent change of 37.1% ( = 0.001). A significant increase in the median number of cases per year was observed during 2021 compared to the previous periods (7.5 vs. 2). Frequency of patients with a psychiatric diagnosis vs. those without a psychiatric diagnosis was significantly higher during than before the COVID-19 period (66.7 vs. 36.1%, = 0.046). In our study, a significant increase in the frequency of suicide attempts by self-immolation during COVID-19 pandemic was noticed. There was also an increased frequency of pre-existing psychiatric illness among patients during the pandemic period. With limited high-quality data available, the study adds to a rising body of evidence for assessment of outcomes of the pandemic on mental health and recognition of stressors for self-immolation.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 Reviewed by: Gianluca Serafini, San Martino Hospital (IRCCS), Italy Morteza Taheri, University of Tehran, Iran Edited by: Renato de Filippis, University Magna Graecia of Catanzaro, Italy These authors share first authorship
ISSN:	2296-2565 2296-2565
DOI:	10.3389/fpubh.2024.1234584