Self-inflicted burns: an eight year retrospective study in Finland

Abstract The aim of this study was to investigate differences in characteristics of burn patients who had attempted suicide, as compared with other burn patients admitted to the Helsinki Burn Centre during 1989–97. Burn patients were first drawn from a computerised register, after which a psychiatrist examined their medical records and ascertained the suicide attempters. Of the total of 811 burn patients, 46 (5.7%) had attempted suicide. The median total body surface area (TBSA) of suicide attempters (24.0%) was markedly higher than in the other patients (6.0%, P P P