The epidemiology of repeat contacts with an Emergency Department or an Institute of Forensic Medicine due to violent victimization in a Danish urban population.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to describe the epidemiology of repeat contacts with an urban emergency department (ED) and/or an institute of forensic medicine.

METHODS

All victims of violence in contact with the ED at Odense University Hospital and/or the Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Southern Denmark 1991-2002 were included. Victims who had two or more contacts were identified as repeat victims and a recurrence proportion was estimated. Survival analysis was made with time of observation from the first to the second contact due to violence and a repetition percentage was estimated as the proportion with repeated characteristics in the incident leading to the second contact compared to the index contact and a repetition percentage was estimated.

RESULTS

Overall 10,216 individuals with 14,307 incidents were included in the study. Overall, the recurrence proportion was 22% and repeat victims who were responsible for 44% of all contacts to the ED and/or the Institute of Forensic Medicine in the study period. The median time from first to the next incident was 1.75 years for males and 1.64 years for females. Overall 34% of the males and 37% of the females experienced the next incident within 1 year. The time span decreased significantly with increasing age for both males and females. The frequency of weapon use was low with a repetition percentage of 17% for males and 7% for females. For potential severe lesions such as bone fractures and internal lesions the repetition percentage was 28% and 19% for males and 23% and 25% for females.

CONCLUSIONS

The present study showed that contact with an ED due to violent victimization often is followed by subsequent contacts with the same ED and/or the IFM due re-victimization and that recurrent incidents share characteristics.