Self-inflicted violence in a northeast Brazilian state: historical series

Abstract

Objective: describes an epidemiological situation of people who were victims of self-harm in a northeastern Brazilian state. Method: this is an exploratory and descriptive study, with a quantitative approach and retrospective data, developed with data obtained from the Notifiable Diseases Information System (SINAN). The population comprised all the people who were attended and notified in the services themselves and affiliated to the Unified Health System between 2015 and 2018. Results: It was observed that most of them were female (65.47%), in the age group from 25 to 59 years old (48.4%), heterosexual (43.8%), without identification of gender identity (54.3%), race/ brown color (51.37%), incomplete elementary school (18.46 %), urban area (90.33%) and single (43.62%). Final considerations: Self-harm is considered an important public health problem in Brazil, and it is imperative to develop educational actions aimed at disseminating risks, prevention programs and their complications.