Objective: This study aimed to collect data on features of parasuicide cases
presented to Hospital Melaka from January to December 2015. Methods:
This was a descriptive study with retrospective review of medical records of
parasuicide cases that were warded for observation in Hospital Melaka from
January to December 2015. Data collected included sociodemographic factors,
previous attempts, methods implicated and reasons for parasuicide which
were presented in descriptive statistics. Results: A total of 88 parasuicide
cases were studied. The median age was 25.6 (17.7) with a majority in age
group between 15-24 years old (43.2%). Females were the highest with 58
cases (65.9%). In terms of ethnicity, the Malays was the highest at 38 cases
(43.2 %). However, after corrected to proportion of ethnicity in Melaka,
Indians yield the highest cases. Those who were single (50.0%) and
unemployed (64.8%) contributed to higher number of cases. About 40 cases
(45.5%) had underlying psychiatry illness and majority of them were those
diagnosed with major depressive disorder (47.5%). In general, the most
common method used was self poisoning with anti-epileptics,
sedative-hypnotic, psychotropics (22.1%). Among male cases, pesticide
ingestion (37%) was more common while among female, medication overdose
(53%) was preferred. In terms of reasons for parasuicide, individuals with
interpersonal conflicts contributed to the highest percentage of cases (57.7%).
Conclusion: Data gathered in this study is useful to reflect the current
situation of parasuicide in Melaka and could serve as a foundation in
designing future studies on preventive and intervention programs in Hospital
Melaka.