[Street violence in Arhus].

As part of a one-year prospective investigation of all violent accidents in Arhus undertaken in the casualty departments and the Medicolegal Institute, the extent and severity of street violence were analysed and compared with violence in and near pubs. Street violence constituted 26% of all accidents due to violence and involved 1.3 persons per day. 75% were blameless and 68% of these were attacked outside the region where they lived. Violence in the street, in pubs and in the vicinity of pubs was concentrated in the centre of the city, in the evening and night hours, at weekends and involved young men. Street violence and violence in the vicinity of pubs differed from violence in pubs in that significantly more of the victims were blameless (approximately 75%), several persons were the perpetrators (approximately 40%) and blows and kicks were combined (approximately 15%). As assessed by the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS), the lesions sustained in street injury did not differ from those of violence in or near pubs: 86% were minor injuries, 11% moderate and none proved fatal. 75% of the victims could be treated completely in the casualty department or by the general practitioner or dentist. Street violence is concentrated to the middle of the city, at weekends and in the evening and night hours and is similar in many ways to violence in and near pubs. The authors consider that exposure to street violence is, to a great extent, connected with participation in night life of the city.