Citation

Jedidi M, Cherif El Khal M, Mlayeh S, Masmoudi T, Mahjoub M, Yassine Brahem M, Ben Dhiab M, Zemni M, Kamel Souguir M. J. Burn Care Res. 2016; 38(4): e734-e738.

Affiliation

From the *Department of Legal Medicine, Farhat Hached University Hospital, Sousse, Tunisia; †Department of Legal Medicine, Ibn El jazzar University Hospital, Kairouan, Tunisia; and ‡Department of Hospital Hygiene, Farhat Hached University Hospital, Sousse, Tunisia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, American Burn Association, Publisher Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1097/BCR.0000000000000469

PMID

27893573

Abstract

Self-immolation is a self-destructive conduct described since antiquity. Its frequency is variable from one country to another and it is a real public health problem in parts of the world. In Tunisia, after the 2011 revolution the problem of self-immolation protest has been highly publicized giving the impression of an increase in this phenomenon. This is a retrospective analysis of all fatal self-immolation cases, collected over a 20-year period (1996-2015) at the Forensic Medicine Department of the Farhat Hached University Hospital, Sousse, Tunisia. A total of 41 cases were collected, of which 23 were men (56%). The mean age was 36.1 years. Prior to 2011, 78.9% of the victims of self-immolation were women and after 2011, 86.4% were men. The rural origin of the victims was found in 56.25% of the cases. History of psychiatric illness was found in four individuals. The self-immolation took place in the victims' homes in 19 cases (46.3%). It came after a conjugal or family conflict in 14 cases (34.1%) and it is of protest character in 8 cases (19.5%). This study confirmed the increasing frequency of self-immolation in Tunisia after the 2011 revolution and noted a change in the victims' profiles.

Language: en