Self-inflicted violence by exogenous poisoning in an emergency service.

Objective: To analyze the self-inflicted violence by exogenous poisoning reported in a health service.

Methods: Epidemiological, retrospective and analytical study in an emergency care in the city of Teresina, Piauí. The study took place in January and February of 2015, upon review of all cases of self-inflicted violence by exogenous poisoning reported to the Information System on Diseases of Compulsory Declaration, from 2009 to 2014. The Pearson chi-square test was used for analysis.

Results: 277 victims of self-inflicted violence by exogenous poisoning were reported, with 10.5% having died by suicide. There was an association between death and the age, education, area of occurrence and type of exposure, as well as between the type of exposure and the amount of agents used.

Conclusion: The results help to define prevention strategies considering vulnerable groups and the complexity of the factors associated with self-inflicted violence.