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Background: Globally, over a million people commit suicide every year. Although suicide rates are more in high-income countries, many countries do not report suicide cases regularly to the World Health Organization (WHO). Therefore, this study aimed to determine the factor associated with suicide and self-harm in Pakistan. Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted at Peoples Medical College Hospital (PMCH) in Shaheed Benazirabad, Sindh, Pakistan, from July to December 2019. A total of 131 cases of suicide/self-harm were included using a convenience sampling technique. Data were collected on a predesigned questionnaire consisting of 14 close-ended questions. A chi-square test was used to determine the association between different categorical variables. Results: The majority of the subjects were males (53.4%), young adults aged between 16 and 30 years (69.5%), single (51.9%), and uneducated (57.3%). More than half (51.9%) of the subjects who attempted suicide or self-harm were unemployed. There was a significant association between education level (Χ² =13.149, P = 0.001) and age groups (Χ² = 15.554, P = 0.001) with health outcomes (suicide or self-harm) only. Moreover, gender (Χ² = 20.776, P = 0.004), marital status (Χ² = 69.047, P < 0.001), level of education (Χ² = 63.144, P < 0.001), age groups (Χ² = 69.848, P < 0.001), and employment status (Χ² = 28.677, P = 0.012) were also associated with the reasons of suicide and self-harm. Conclusion: Our study concluded that mostly single, unemployed males with low literacy and with marital and family issues are determined as factors associated with a high risk of self-harm and suicide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 is the current topic of discussion globally as people are getting affected by it on a huge scale. This study is focused to determine the concerns and perceptions of healthcare workers (HCWs) due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on their mental health, routine work, family and social life. Study was conducted at various health care facilities of Sindh, Pakistan, from October to December 2020 (three months). An online survey questionnaire consisting of fourteen closed-ended questions was designed in Google Forms and circulcalted among the HCWs through email and social media. The data collected was analyzed using SPSS 24 and descriptive statistical tools were used to measure the frequencies and the Chi-square test was applied among correlated variables. Among 412 respondents, majority of the participants were male (54.6%) and young with 18-28 years of age (47.3%). Two-third of HCWs were highly concerned about their family's health versus own health (67.7% vs 44.7% respectively) and 157 (38.1%) were emotionally distressed. It was also found that HCWs with assigned duties in the isolation wards were more emotionally distressed (56.2% high to very high) compared to those not working in isolation units (45.3% high to very high). More than half of HCWs (51.9%) reported that their family life was also disturbed. Our findings indicate that COVID-19 pandemic has a significant psychological impact on frontline soldiers (HCWs) particularly they were worried about family's health. The HCWs who were assigned duties in isolation units were more emotionally distressed than those who were not assigned duties in isolation wards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Suicidal victims often reach Intensive Care Units (ICU), if they manage to reach a hospital, and the anesthesiologist get involved in their management. We aimed to evaluate the incidence of suicidal patterns, methods being used and seasonal variations in the frequency of suicide victims admission at Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Peoples Medical College Hospital (PMCH), Nawabshah (Pakistan). Study design: Retrospective study Methodology: A cohort study was conducted over a four and a half years (January 2014 to August 2018), including suicidal cases of both sexes received at ICU, PMCH, Nawabshah, from six districts of interior Sindh. Cases were selected on the basis of information from hospital record files after the approval of hospital ethical review committee. Findings were tabulated and analysed. Results: This study revealed that out of a total of 685 cases, 391 (57.08%) were males and 294 (42.92%) were females. Eighty males (11.67%) and 68 (9.93%) females could not be survived while two cases (0.29%) were referred to Karachi during the study period. The highest incidence of suicidal attempts and suicidal deaths were 164 and 38 during 2017 and 2014 respectively. Males were the predominant victims of suicide with a male to female ratio of 2:1.7. The most common method used for suicide was poisoning 98.77% (n = 656) followed by hanging 3.21% (n = 22) and drug overdose 1.02% (n = 07). A seasonal surge in autumn (August 17.81%) was noted. Conclusion: Males were the predominant victims of suicide in rural areas of interior Sindh Province of Pakistan. The most common method used for suicide was poisoning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]