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Interpersonal violence is a global health issue, the impact of which filters through every facet of society. The aim of this study is to describe the trends and profile of violence-related injuries originating in a South African community.
Materials and Methods: A retrospective, descriptive study was conducted by reviewing patient files at Leratong Provincial Hospital. Relevant clinical information such as victim’s age and gender; time, date and day of hospital attendance; nature of injury; presence/absence of alcohol; and nature of weapon (if any) was extracted. Each patient record was given a unique study number and patient confidentiality was maintained at all times. The extracted information was recorded on a data sheet and analysed statistically.
Results: The study sample consisted of 236 female and 504 male victims of interpersonal violence. The mean age of for female victims was 26.6 years and male victims was 28.7 years. Peak in attendance was noted in the age group 20-29 years. Most male victims attended hospital over Saturday and Sunday, in contrast most female victims attended on Monday and Friday. Peaks in overall attendance was noted in the months of May, November and December. Female victims attended predominantly during 08h01-16h00, while male victims showed an increase in attendance after 16h00. Blunt injuries were the most frequent type of injury in the overall sample, although over the weekend males sustained more penetrating injuries than blunt injuries. Sexual assault victims were overwhelmingly female.
Conclusion: This study highlights the trends in interpersonal violence injuries. Young adults, especially males, are noted to be significantly affected by interpersonal violence. The prevalence of sexual assault among young females highlights the need for re-defining the role of South African women, and gender roles in general.
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Learning Objectives: To determine whether there is a time-related trend or change in the profile of violence-related injuries amongst patients presenting to the emergency department and crisis centre, according to different times of the day, week, month and year. To compare the demographics of patients presenting with violence-related injuries during a one year period. To determine whether or not a weapon was used, and if so, the type of weapon. To investigate whether the use of alcohol was related to the violence-related injury, as noted in the hospital files.