A comparison of non-fatal self-poisoning among males and females, in Sri Lanka

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dc.contributor.authorRajapakse, Thilini
dc.contributor.authorGriffiths, Kathleen
dc.contributor.authorChristensen, Helen
dc.contributor.authorCotton, Sue
dc.date.accessioned2016-01-20T23:07:54Z
dc.date.available2016-01-20T23:07:54Z
dc.date.issued2014-08-08
dc.date.updated2016-02-24T11:37:16Z
dc.description.abstractBACKGROUND In the recent past Sri Lanka has had a high rate of attempted suicide by pesticide ingestion, among both males and females. Recent evidence suggests that these trends in self-poisoning may be changing, with increasing medicinal overdoses and changing gender ratios. In the past, attempted suicide in Sri Lanka has been described as impulsive acts, but research regarding aspects such as suicidal intent is limited, and there has been no comparison between genders. The objective of this study was to describe gender differences in non-fatal self-poisoning in Sri Lanka with respect to substances ingested, triggers, stressors, suicidal intent and psychiatric morbidity. METHODS Persons admitted to Teaching Hospital Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, for medical management of non-fatal self-poisoning over a consecutive 14-month period were eligible for the study. Participants were interviewed within one week of admission, with regard to demographic details, poison type ingested, triggers, psychiatric morbidity and suicidal intent. 949 participants were included in the study, of whom 44.2% were males, with a median age of 22 years. RESULTS Males were significantly more likely to ingest agrochemicals, whereas females were more likely to overdose on pharmaceutical drugs. Interpersonal conflict was a common trigger associated with non-fatal self-poisoning for both males and females. Alcohol use disorders and high suicidal intent were significantly more likely in males. There was no difference in rates of depression between the genders. Multiple regression for both genders separately showed that the presence of depression and higher levels of hopelessness was the strongest predictor of suicidal intent, for both genders. CONCLUSIONS Patterns of non-fatal self-poisoning in Sri Lanka appear to be changing to resemble Western patterns, with females having a greater rate of self-poisoning and more medicinal overdoses than males. Alcohol use disorder is a gender specific risk factor associated with non-fatal self-poisoning among males, indicating a need for specific intervention. However there are also many common risk factors that are common to both genders, particularly associations with interpersonal conflict as an acute trigger, and psychiatric morbidity such as depression and hopelessness being related to increased suicidal intent.
dc.identifier.issn1471-244Xen_AU
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1885/95567
dc.publisherBioMed Central
dc.rights© Rajapakse et al., licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2014 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://​creativecommons.​org/​licenses/​by/​4.​0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://​creativecommons.​org/​publicdomain/​zero/​1.​0/​) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
dc.sourceBMC Psychiatry
dc.subjectadolescent
dc.subjectadult
dc.subjectdepression
dc.subjectdrug overdose
dc.subjectfemale
dc.subjecthumans
dc.subjectmale
dc.subjectpatient admission
dc.subjectpoisoning
dc.subjectrisk factors
dc.subjectsri lanka
dc.subjectsuicidal ideation
dc.subjectsuicide, attempted
dc.subjectyoung adult
dc.titleA comparison of non-fatal self-poisoning among males and females, in Sri Lanka
dc.typeJournal article
local.bibliographicCitation.issue1en_AU
local.bibliographicCitation.lastpage13
local.bibliographicCitation.startpage221en_AU
local.contributor.affiliationRajapakse, Thilini, College of Medicine, Biology and Environment, CMBE Research School of Population Health, National Institute for Mental Health Research, The Australian National Universityen_AU
local.contributor.affiliationGriffiths, Kathleen, College of Medicine, Biology and Environment, CMBE Research School of Population Health, National Institute for Mental Health Research, The Australian National Universityen_AU
local.contributor.affiliationChristensen, Helen, University of New South Wales, Australiaen_AU
local.contributor.affiliationCotton, Susan, University of Melbourne, Australiaen_AU
local.contributor.authoremailgemba471@gmail.comen_AU
local.contributor.authoruidu4906347en_AU
local.description.notesImported from ARIESen_AU
local.identifier.absfor111714en_AU
local.identifier.absseo920410en_AU
local.identifier.ariespublicationu5684624xPUB10en_AU
local.identifier.citationvolume14en_AU
local.identifier.doi10.1186/s12888-014-0221-zen_AU
local.identifier.essn1471-244Xen_AU
local.identifier.scopusID2-s2.0-84905869927
local.identifier.thomsonID000340791200001
local.identifier.uidSubmittedByu3488905en_AU
local.publisher.urlhttp://www.biomedcentral.com/en_AU
local.type.statusPublished Versionen_AU

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