Direct Costs of Healthcare among Patients with Deliberate Self-harm: A Pilot Study from a Tertiary Care Hospital in South India

Background: Deliberate self-harm (DSH) in developing nations has a significant impact on health and economic conditions of patients and families.

Materials and methods: This retrospective study aims to study the cost of hospitalization and the factors affecting the cost of medical care. Adult patients with a diagnosis of DSH were included.

Results: A total of 107 patients were included with the most common type of poison consumed being pesticides (35.5%) followed by a tablet overdose (31.8%). There was a male preponderance with a mean (SD) age of 30.04 (9.03) years. The median cost of admission was ₹13,690 (USD 195.57); DSH with pesticide increased the cost of care by 67% as compared to non-pesticides. Other factors which increased the cost were need for intensive care, ventilation, use of vasopressors, and development of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP).

Conclusions: Pesticide-based poisoning is the most frequent cause of DSH. Among different types of DSH, pesticide poisoning is associated with a higher direct cost of hospitalization.

How to cite this article: Barnabas R, Yadav B, Jayakaran J, Gunasekaran K, Johnson J, Pichamuthu K, et al. Direct Costs of Healthcare among Patients with Deliberate Self-harm: A Pilot Study from a Tertiary Care Hospital in South India. Indian J Crit Care Med 2022;26(7):836-838.