ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: This study was undertaken to describe patient, assault, and examination characteristics associated with compliance with follow-up in sexual assault victims. STUDY DESIGN: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of consecutive women presenting to an urban hospital after sexual assault over a 36-month period. We compared those who did and did not follow-up by using standardized history, examination, and data collection forms. RESULTS: Eight hundred twelve women met inclusion criteria; 288 (35.5%) attended follow-up. Young age (odds ratio [OR] = 2.70), assault at home (OR = 1.90), amnesia (OR = 1.80), alcohol use (OR = 1.55), genital trauma (OR = 1.55), and receipt of postexamination medications (OR = 1.87) were associated with greater follow-up; homelessness (OR = 0.30), psychiatric diagnosis (OR = 0.34), assault by an intimate partner (OR = 0.47), and cocaine use (OR = 0.29) with less. CONCLUSION: Although only 35.5% of sexual assault victims seek follow-up, we found many factors positively and negatively associated with this. These findings may inform care strategies designed to improve follow-up for women who are at risk for significant sequelae.
Subject(s)
Crime Victims/psychology , Follow-Up Studies , Patient Care , Patient Compliance , Sex Offenses , Adolescent , Adult , Age Factors , Aged , Cocaine-Related Disorders/psychology , Cohort Studies , Domestic Violence/psychology , Drug Therapy , Female , Genitalia, Female/injuries , Ill-Housed Persons/psychology , Humans , Mental Disorders/psychology , Middle Aged , Multivariate Analysis , Patient Care/statistics & numerical data , Retrospective Studies , Substance-Related Disorders/psychologySubject(s)
Freezing , Spermatozoa , Animals , Antigen-Antibody Reactions , Blood Group Antigens , Genotype , Humans , Isoantibodies , Male , Methods , Mice , Phenotype , Preservation, Biological , Spermatozoa/immunology , Spermatozoa/metabolism , Tissue BanksABSTRACT
PIP: The mechanisms of the possible biological alterations in the human population as a result of population control are discussed. Population control is distinguished from population limitation by defining it as actual genetic alteration through manipulation of fertilization. Population limitation such as the use of contraceptive methods is aimed at simply reducing the size of the population by changing reproductive behavioral patterns. Major avenues of population control include the freezing of semen for artificial insemination, which causes biochemical changes in the sperm cells and reduces spermatozoa viability in the female reproductive tract. Artifical fertilizations in infertile couples and prezygotic selection are other actions that can produce genetic alterations in the species. It is concluded that both deliberate and inadvertent changes in the modes of biological selection as a result of population control and limitation will alter the genetic characteristics of the human population, mainly by reducing genetic variability. These possibilities should be considered and watched carefully in population research.^ieng
