Self-injury behavior among mental patients has been recognized for several years, yet our understanding of its mechanisms and its risk factors remains limited.

This study aimed to assess the prevalence of deliberate self-harm (DSH) among psychiatric inpatients and to identify its association with personal and clinical factors.

It was a descriptive and analytic study. It included 87 psychiatric inpatients followed in the psychiatry department “C” at the Hedi Chaker University Hospital of Sfax in Tunisia. Barratt Impulsivity Scale (Bis11) and the 28-items Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) were used to assess respectively impulsivity and child maltreatment.

The average age of patients was 29.32 ± 8 years. Most of them were male (75%) and single. Fifty-nine percent of patients had previously attempted suicide. A history of DSH was found in 60.9% of cases. The most frequent trauma types were emotional abuse and physical neglect with respectively 58.7% and 69.8%. Factors positively correlated with DSH were: male gender (P = 0.026), father alcoholism (P = 0.024), history of suicide attempts (P = 0.017), borderline personality (P = 0.00) and history of emotional abuse (P = 0.008) or physical abuse (P = 0.04) or neglect (P = 0.004). Score “Bis11” was significantly correlated with suicide attempts (P = 0.00) and presence of childhood abuse (P = 0.00) or neglect (P = 0.01).

DSH seems to be a prevalent problem among psychiatric inpatients. It concerns mainly patients with a history of child abuse and impulsive behavior such as suicidal attempts underlying borderline personality disorder. Patients with these risk factors warrant specific attention in mental health services.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.