self-immolation in kermanshah city, iran; a serious suicide intention?

abstract aims: the reason of selecting self-immolation as a mean to commit suicide is unclear. this study was designed to compare 2 groups of people with and without intention to suicide that had self-immolated. instrument & methods: all 227 self-immolated patients who had been admitted to the burn unit of imam khomeini hospital of kermanshah city, iran, during 2003 to 2004  participated in this cross-sectional study. all the samples and their families were interviewed and a psychiatrist completed dsm-iv symptom checklist. data were analyzed by spss 11 using descriptive statistic methods, two-sample t and chi-square tests. findings: 126 of the patients (55.5%) had suicidal intent and 97 (42.7%) reported prior suicidal plan. the mortality rate of the suicidal intent patients was 61.1% and non-suicidal intent patients was 36.6%. personality disorder was the only psychiatric problem that was significantly different between two groups of patients with and without intent of suicide. conclusion: self-immolation cannot be considered as a suicidal attempt in kermanshah city, iran.