ABSTRACT
The aim of this study was investigating the characteristic and outcome of self-immolation cases admitted to the Burn Centre of Birjand, Iran over an eight year period. This study is a retrospective review of case notes for patients with self-Immolation and admitted to our referral burn centre in the last 8 years [January 2003-January 2011]. A performa was designed to collect the data such as: demographic information, length of hospital stay, extent of the burn injuries as%TBSA [Total Body Surface Area] and final outcome. Data was analyzed by SPSS software. Between 2003 and 2011, 188 self-immolation cases admitted. The mean age was 26.97 +/- 12.6 years. Female to male ratio was 1.7:1. Housewives represented the largest group [43.1%] and kerosene was the most frequent agent used [74.6%]. There was significant different between mortality and TBSA and low educational level [P=0.0001]. There was a significant fluctuation time trend in the incidence [per 100,000 population] of self-immolation from 2003 [4.64, CI 95%: 4.62-4.65] to 2008 [5.2, CI 95%: 5.19-5.21]. Mortality rate was 64%. The survival rates at three weeks survival for patients who self-immolated was 24 percent [CI 95%: 17-31]. The mean and median survival times were 6 days [CI 95%: 4.8-7.2] and 17.5 days [CI 95%: 13.3-21.6], respectively. Our study has shown a lower incidence of self-immolation [5.3%] in the South Khorasan region, when compared with other parts of Iran, as well as a relatively low mortality rate. We have also reported self-immolation in pregnant women which has rarely been reported in medical literature