OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine the methods of self-injurious behavior and related psychiatric disorder among patients seen at Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study which used convenience sampling. It involved 53 patients with self-injurious behavior brought to Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center and assessed by the Department of Psychiatry. Data was gathered through a Psychiatric interview done by a co-investigator to eliminate interviewer’s bias. Statistical analyses used were both descriptive (percentages, mean, and frequency) and inferential in the form of chisquare test. RESULTS: Socio-demographic profile of patients showed that the mean age of patients with self-injurious behavior was 26-27 (26.8), predominantly female, single and high school graduate. For the factors leading to self-injury, it showed that self-injurious patients had a family history of psychiatric disorder and a previous history of self-injury. The predominant method used by the patients in the study was ingestion. The major psychiatric disorder found among patients was Depressive Disorder. There was no association noted between the method of self-injurious behavior employed and the specific psychiatric disorder. CONCLUSION Patients brought to the hospital due to self-injury commonly had an ongoing psychiatric pathology, majority of whom had a Depressive Disorder. Since the method used for self-injury was not found to be associated with the type of psychiatric disorder, it would be too risky to conclude that patients with minor methods of self-injury ( e.g. scratching) would only have a minor psychiatric disturbance. It is, therefore, recommended that a comprehensive psychiatric assessment should be conducted for all patients with self-injurious behavior irrespective of the level of lethality of their method self-injury.
Self-Injurious Behavior ; Mental Disorders