title: Suicidal burns in Samarkand burn centers and their consequences.
abstract: Suicide is a global public health problem, particularly in Asia where few countries with large populations have high suicide rates accounting for the majority of the world's suicides. During a 14-year period, 76 individuals, aged 17 to 66 years, committed suicide from 1995 to 2008 and were included in this report. Data was collected on each patient including, age, sex, place of injury, patient occupation, accommodation, psychiatric illness, suicidal motives, flammable substances used, place of burn, season of the year, and total body surface area (TBSA) burnt. Most suicidal cases (55 out of 76) had a history of depressive episodes and emotional unstable disorders, and 18 of them had a known history of psychiatric illness. In 5 cases alcohol intoxication was present at the moment of suicide, and 3 patients had chronic alcohol dependence together with basic psychiatric disease. It is also evident from this study that the causes of suicide in females are mainly socio-economical and psychological.
authors.affiliation: Samarkand State Medical Institute, Burn Department of RSCUMA and Inter-Regional Burn Center Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
authors.forename: B M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Shakirov
authors.affiliation: Samarkand State Medical Institute, Burn Department of RSCUMA and Inter-Regional Burn Center Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
authors.forename: Y M
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Ahmedov
authors.affiliation: Samarkand State Medical Institute, Burn Department of RSCUMA and Inter-Regional Burn Center Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Hakimov
authors.affiliation: Samarkand State Medical Institute, Burn Department of RSCUMA and Inter-Regional Burn Center Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
authors.forename: K R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Tagaev
authors.affiliation: Samarkand State Medical Institute, Burn Department of RSCUMA and Inter-Regional Burn Center Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
authors.forename: B H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Karabaev
keywords: collection and analysis; patient data; suicidal burns