Citation

Gupta R, Narnoli S, Das N, Sarkar S, Balhara YPS. Indian J. Psychiatry 2019; 61(5): 431-438.

Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry and National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre, AIIMS, New Delhi, India.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Medknow Publications)

DOI

10.4103/psychiatry.IndianJPsychiatry_578_18

PMID

31579165

PMCID

PMC6767833

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Suicide is a growing health concern and causes significant health burden. Patients with substance use disorders represent an especially vulnerable population in terms of self-harm. Data on risk factors for self-harm in substance-using population in the Indian context are limited. We aimed to determine the patterns and sociodemographic/clinical predictors of self-harm in patients with substance use disorders.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: We assessed 300 male patients on Deliberate Self-Harm Inventory to assess the patterns of self-harm. We performed mediation analysis to determine whether clinical variables acted via sociodemographic variables in their effect on self-harm.

RESULTS: The occurrence rate of self-harm was 32.7%. It was significantly associated with a younger age, being unmarried/separated, unemployed, history of injecting drug use, high-risk sexual behavior, and cannabis use disorders.

CONCLUSION: Self-harm is an important consideration among patients with substance use disorders, and needs to be addressed by the clinicians involved in the care of such patients.

Copyright: © 2019 Indian Journal of Psychiatry.

Language: en

Keywords

Epidemiology; substance use disorders; suicide risk