Study of Socio-demographic and Clinical Profile of Individuals with Deliberate Self-harm Attempt during COVID-19 Lockdown

Abstract

Introduction: Self-harm attempt is an important aspect in consultation liaison psychiatry. During lockdown due to the Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, many people underwent various stressors. Many individuals were referred to Psychiatry Out Patient Department (OPD) with a history of self- harm attempt. They were also aware of the travel restrictions and difficulty in reaching hospitals. So, it was necessary to understand the reasons for the self-harm attempt, especially during the lockdown. Aim: To study the socio-demographic and clinical profile of individuals with self-harm attempt during the lockdown. Materials and Methods: The cross-sectional study was done during the COVID-19 lockdown period (last week of March 2020 till end of May 2020) in the Kodagu Institute of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital, Madikeri, Karnataka, India. A total of 52 subjects of self-harm attempt who were referred to the Department of Psychiatry for counseling and needed psychological help, on regular OPD days were recruited for the study after obtaining informed consent. Socio-demographic and clinical details like nature of self-harm attempt, method of attempt, number of attempts, reason for attempt, time of attempt, consumed alcohol prior to the attempt, how did they reach hospital, clinical depression, difficulty in reaching hospital due to lockdown, regret/remorse about the attempt were documented using the semi-structured proforma. The data was expressed as percentages and Chi-square test was applied. A p-value less than 0.001 were considered as significant. Results: Out of 52 subjects, 65.4% belonged to 21-40 years of age, 51.9% were females, 65.4% were married, 30.8% belonged to lower socio-economic status, 61.6% residing in a rural area, education below class 10 (73.07%), the predominant occupation was labourers and home maker. Poisoning was the common method and 25% had depression and needed medications. The interpersonal conflict was the common reason and had difficulties due to lockdown (5.7%). However, the findings were statistically not significant among males and females. Conclusion: Self-harm attempt was common in young married females in a rural area by poisoning, who reported depression, interpersonal conflict and economic difficulties during the lockdown.