Victims of violence in an emergency department

The aim of this study was to identify the risk profile of the victims of violent accidents. During 1997, we studied 1100 patients suffering from injuries produced by violent actions and treated in the emergency department of the largest teaching hospital in the Canary Islands, Spain. Seventy per cent of the patients were male and 30% were female. The mean age was 28 and 30 years, respectively. In the distribution by age, the main group was that between 18 and 36 years. Seventy-five per cent of violent accidents were public, 20% domestic and 5% remain unknown. The face-neck was the anatomical location with the highest number of severe injuries, followed by the upper extremities (42% vs. 26%, p<0.001). Eight per cent of the injured men presented severe injuries, in contrast with 1% of the women (p<0.001). Most patients (94%) were discharged from hospital after being treated. None of the victims died as a result of violence. The admission of victims occurred predominantly during the night hours and 35% of the patients were treated during the weekend. It is concluded that the typical victim of violent accidents in an emergency department of a Spanish teaching hospital is a young male with severe injuries, which occurred during late hours at weekends.