Notification Analysis of self-inflicted violence in Brazilian territory between 2009 and 2018

Abstract

Introduction: Suicide rates has been unequal distributed worldwide. The intentionality of the act is what distinguishes an accidental injury from a suicide attempt. Objective: To identify the epidemiological profile of people who attended and were notified in the health sector as self-inflicted violence between 2009 and 2018. Material and Methods: Cross-sectional study, using secondary data from the Information System for Notifiable Diseases (ISND). The descriptive analysis of the reported cases was based on the sociodemographic characteristics of the individuals, as well as on the characteristic of violence and temporal analysis according to Brazilian regions. The comparison of differences and distribution between proportions was performed using Pearson’s chi-square test, with a significance level of 5%. Results: Although the raw data point out to more cases in the Southeast, the rate of cases per 100,000 inhabitants is higher in the South region. The distribution of sociodemographic variables and the nature of violence were different between the sexes. Of all the notifications, 67% of them comprised women. Most of them affected individuals between 20 and 59 years of age and those of white race. Cases of repetitive violence were 72.4%, in women. Poisoning was the most commonly used method of self-inflicted violence. Conclusion: The epidemiological profile was made up of white women, between 20 and 59 years old, who usually used poisoning as the main method of self-injury. The lack of some information in the data collection points out the need for training of health professionals to better fill out the notification records.