[Self-aggressive behaviors in the emergency service].

Objective: To discover the characteristics of self-damaging acts attended at a casualty department.

Design: Descriptive/retrospective study.

Setting: Hospital context.

Patients And Other Participants: Those attended for damage to themselves in the Avila Hospital Casualty Department over a two-year period.

Measurements And Main Results: For the 62 cases surveyed, age, gender, source of referral, the method used, diagnosis, hour of arrival, length of time in the Department, destination on release and the seriousness of the act, were all evaluated. The most common method was taking drugs (72.6%). Among women (56.4%), emotional, personality and adaptive disorders predominated. Men (43.5%) were more commonly schizophrenic and showed abuse of/dependence on alcohol and drugs. They were also the most serious cases. 53.2% of cases required psychiatric admittance.

Conclusions: Emotional disturbances and personality disorders were the most common cause of this type of behaviour.