Medical Student Research Forum Posters

Self-inflicted burns are a relatively uncommon but profound attempt at suicide. In 2019, suicide was the 10th leading cause of death in the United States with suicide by burns accounting for less than 1.0% of suicide attempts. Incidence of suicide by burning and self-inflicted burns have been estimated at between 0.67%-9.0% of total burn admissions in developed countries. 20 years ago, we first reviewed our experience with self-inflicted burns. This study evaluated for any change in the incidence or outcomes of self-inflicted burns. Due to the rarity of occurrence, there is limited literature available evaluating the psychosocial contributors and outcomes of suicide by burning and self-inflicted burns. Prior studies have described characteristics of patients with selfinflicted burns as predominantly male and Caucasian and with a history of psychiatric illness and substance use. A nationwide Japanese study with data from over 200 major tertiary care centers compared outcomes amongst 1094 patients with burns, 222 with self-inflicted burns. They concluded that self-inflicted burns are associated with increased in-hospital mortality. Other studies have found such an association does not exist after comparing for injury characteristics and patient demographics.