@article{ref1,
title="Self-harm and self-poisoning in southern India: choice of poisoning agents and treatment",
journal="Tropical medicine and international health",
year="2009",
author="Bose, Anuradha and Sandal Sejbaek, Camilla and Suganthy, Pearline and Raghava, V. and Alex, Reginald and Muliyil, Jp and Konradsen, Flemming",
volume="14",
number="7",
pages="761-765",
abstract="Summary Objective To record cases of suicide and attempted suicide among a population of 108 000 people living in a primarily rural area of southern India, with the aim of guiding policies and strategies to restrict access to poisonous compounds at community level. Method Community-based surveillance over a period of 2 years. Results and conclusion The overall suicide rate was 71.4 per 100 000 population; the highest burden was among men. Most people died through hanging (81, 54%) and self-poisoning (46, 31%). Of the 46 who died from self-poisoning, 78.3% had taken pesticides and 19.7% had eaten poisonous plants. Eighty per cent of the self-poisoning cases obtained the poisonous substance in or in close proximity to the home, highlighting the importance of safe storage in the domestic environment. Of the 110 fatal and non-fatal self-poisoning cases, 87 (57.5%) were taken for treatment; 50 (57.4%) went to government hospitals and 37 (42.5%) to private facilities. This indicates the importance of including the private sector in the efforts to improve case management. Furthermore, the fact that 31 (67%) of the self-poisoning patients, who eventually died, were alive after 4 h provides an incentive to focus on improved case management and access to health services.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1360-2276",
doi="10.1111/j.1365-3156.2009.02293.x",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3156.2009.02293.x"
}