Epidemiology of assault and self-harm injuries treated in a large Romanian Emergency Department

Abstract

Objectives Intentional injury, including interpersonal violence and self-harm, is one of the world’s leading causes of preventable injury. In Europe alone, nearly 1.5 million individuals receive medical treatment each year for a violence-related injury. We examined violent injuries treated in the largest Emergency Department (ED) in Tîrgu Mures County, Romania, with a catchment area of approximately 580 000 residents to describe the epidemiology of assault and self-harm injuries. Methods Data were collected as part of the European Injury Database project, from a sample of patients who presented with a violence-related injury and received care from the ED of the Mures County Emergency Hospital, Romania. The data were collected for 9 months by two trained emergency physicians. Information about individual demographics; mechanism, nature, place, and activity of injury; injury types, and body regions affected; and discharge state were compared for assault and self-harm injuries. Results Of the 380 patients treated for violence-related injuries, 88.7% were for assault and 11.3% were for self-harm. For both types of injuries, the majority of patients were between the ages of 15 and 44. Assaults frequently occurred in the home, on streets and highways, or in public places; and men (80.4%) were far more likely than women (19.6%) to be treated for this type of injury; a slightly higher proportion of men (55.8%) than women (44.2%) were treated for self-harm, most of which occurred in homes. Discussion Of all injuries treated in the Tîrgu Mures ED, one out of five was violence related. One out of 10 patients that suffered an injury as a consequence of a violent event and treated in the ED required admission to a hospital for further medical care, leading to a significant health care burden. These data suggest that prevention strategies should focus on young adults, and particularly men. Interventions that focus on detection and treatment of psychological illness, reduction of alcohol use and associated aggression, and family and intimate partner violence are suggested as priorities.

Epidemiology of Road Traffic Injuries Treated in a Large Romanian Emergency Department in Tîrgu-Mureş Between 2009 and 2010

“…Trauma reports were collected using the EU-IDB data coding and data collection standards by 2 emergency physicians (Gal et al 2012). Data included 18 core variables, a narrative, and 5 specific modules of data collected for subsets of injured individuals: hospital admissions, intentional self-harm, sport, transport, and violence (Consumer Safety Institute 2009; Gal et al 2012). Information about demographics, mechanism, place of occurrence, and activity when injured were used from the 18 core variables to identify the characteristics of road traffic injuries.…”

Assault and self-harm injuries: pattern, severity and etiology of injuries in victims attending emergency department of teaching hospital in central India

“…[8][9][10] Victims of assaults were frequently young adults, belonging to 15-34 years of age group which was expected and similar to other studies but it was surprising that in one year period in a busy accident and emergency department few elderly victims were seen. 11,12 Which was contrary to concept is that the elderly are the most frequently attacked and suffer serious injuries. 13 Self-harm injuries were predominantly seen in female sex (68.4%) and 15-24 years of age group (63.2%).…”

“…23,24 Soft tissue injuries (contusion, bruise, abrasion, open wound) were the most frequent injuries in the self-harm group (67.7%) and also the leading injury type among assault patients (78.5%). 12 The body region affected by the injury also differed significantly between the two groups: head and face injuries were dominant among assault victims (51%), Upper extremities were the predominant localization of injuries in the self-harm group, 45%. Assailant generally select most vital body parts which can be easily stroked and result in grievous injury.…”

“…21 Violence related injury most commonly occurs at home mainly due to family /interpersonal conflicts, property related disputes. 11,12,21,22 In our study farm was the second most common site of assault related injuries particularly during crop harvesting season over crop and agricultural land related conflicts. Self-harm injuries were exclusively occurred at home (92.1%).…”

Self-Cannibalism: The Man Who Eats Himself

“…Self-mutilating injuries are encountered predominantly in male patients in the ED 1,2. This pattern of behavior is seen in patients with personality, acute and chronic psychotic, major affective, and gender disorders.…”