Citation

Faergemann C, Lauritsen JM, Brink O, Skov O, Mortensen PB. J. Forensic Leg. Med. 2009; 16(1): 11-17.

Affiliation

Accident Analysis Group, Department of Orthopaedics, Odense University Hospital, DK-5000 Odense C, Denmark.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.jflm.2008.05.014

PMID

19061843

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To describe demographic and socioeconomic risk factors of adult violent victimization leading to contact with an emergency department and/or an institute of forensic medicine based on a case-control study design. DESIGN: A register-based case-control study comparing demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of 10,799 adult victims of violence (cases) and 53,986 randomly selected population-based controls matched for age, gender, and date. DATA SOURCES: Cases were included from a Danish emergency department and a Danish institute of forensic medicine. Demographic and socioeconomic data for cases and controls were extracted from two national longitudinal registers. STATISTICS: Data were analysed using logistic regression in a semi-adjusted model adjusting for age, gender, and year, and a fully adjusted model including several variables. RESULTS: Factors positively associated with adult violent victimization were"being a pensioner"(OR: 4.71; 95% CI: 4.18-5.30),"being unemployed"(OR: 3.15; 95% CI: 2.85-3.48), and"not living with a partner"(OR: 2.93; 95% CI: 2.74-3.14), whereas the factors strongly negatively associated with adult violent victimization was"being a student"(OR: 0.72; 95% CI: 0.63-0.83). In the semi-adjusted analysis a foreign citizenship of a country outside Europe was significantly associated with adult violent victimization (OR: 1.79; 95% CI: 1.60-2.00), whereas in the fully adjusted analyses the association decreased to an insignificant level. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings emphasize the multifaceted nature of injuries from violence. The findings from this study indicated potential risk factors, which should be specifically addressed when planning preventive strategies.

Language: en