Interpersonal violence epidemiology and mortality by violence victim-perpetrator relationships

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the interpersonal violence (IPV) epidemiology and mortality according to the violence victim-perpetrator relationships. METHODS: A retrospective cross-sectional study was done using the comprehensive data of the emergency department (ED)-based Jeju Injury Surveillance System from all EDs in Jeju Island. The demographic characteristics of the victims, the types of perpetrators (spouse, family members, acquaintance, and stranger), injury characteristics and clinical outcomes from the injury were collected. The IPV epidemiology was reported by descriptive statistics. Multivariate Poisson regression was used to analyze the association between the mortality and violence victim-perpetrator relationships. RESULTS: Among the 23,508 violent injury patients enrolled from January 1, 2008, and December 31 of 2016, 19,879 (84.6%) were analyzed; 16 (0.08%) died at the ED. The types of perpetrators were the spouse (10.1%), family members (3.9%), acquaintances (43.4%), and strangers (42.7%). The mortality of the violence victims was increased significantly by the spouse (incidence rate ratio [IRR], 6.336; P=0.043) or family members (IRR, 11.089; P=0.016) compared to strangers. On the other hand, there was no difference between the acquaintances and strangers. CONCLUSION: The epidemiology and mortality of IPV were associated with the violence victim-perpetrator relationships. Therefore, it is necessary to develop and apply prevention programs considering these differences, particularly for intimidate/ family violence because of its high fatality.