• Rebecca Wood.
• Staff Specialist Psychiatrist, Consultation Liaison Psychiatry, Sydney Local Health District, Concord, NSW, and; Clinical Associate Lecturer, Discipline of Psychiatry, Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney NSW, Australia rebecca.wood@sydney.edu.au.
• Australas Psychiatry. 2014 Aug 1; 22 (4): 393-396.

ObjectiveThe primary objective was to calculate the number of self-inflicted burn injuries of all admissions in an Australian hospital burns unit. The secondary objectives included examining the demographic profile, length of stay and co-morbidity of mental illness in these cases compared with the total admissions to the burns unit.MethodsA retrospective study of medical records was conducted at a tertiary burns unit over a 5-year period.ResultsA total of 33 self-inflicted burn injury cases were identified which represented 2.2% of all burns unit admissions. These patients were 70% male, the average age was 36.1 years and 11 were born overseas, which was similar to the profile of all admissions. Twenty-four (73%) patients were diagnosed with a mental illness, compared with 14% for all admissions. The average length of stay was 52 days, compared with the burns unit average of 12 days.ConclusionsWhile the percentage of self-inflicted burn cases of all burns unit admissions was low, these cases have a greater burden of care due to their longer admission time and higher frequency of co-morbid mental illness. This finding supports the need for close involvement of consultation liaison psychiatry teams within a burns unit.© The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2014.

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