Citation

Leeper S, Lahri S, Myers J, Patel M, Reddy P, Martin IBK, Van Hoving DJ. Injury 2019; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

University of Stellenbosch, Division of Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Cape Town, South Africa.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.injury.2019.10.014

PMID

31653499

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Violence is a leading cause of death worldwide for youth age 15-29. A growing body of literature has described assault-injured youth in United States emergency centres, identifying risk factors for re-injury and mortality, and developing targeted interventions. Despite the fact that low- and middle-income countries are disproportionately affected by violence, little research on assault-injured youth exists in these settings.

METHODS: Survey and chart review of 14 to 24-year-old assault-injured patients and non-assault-injured controls to 24-hour emergency centres in Khayelitsha, South Africa over 15 weeks. Patient enrollment occurred 7pm Friday to 7am Monday. Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate associations of behavioral and other factors with assault injury.

RESULTS: In total 513 patients were enrolled: 324 assault-injured patients and 189 controls (131 medical, 58 unintentional injuries). Overall 28% were female (n = 146) and 72% were male (n = 367). The mean age was 20.5 years. Assault-injured patients of both genders were more likely than controls to give a 30-day history of drinking any alcohol (OR 6.3) and binge drinking (OR 6.7). They were also more likely to report any physical fight (OR 4.4) or any physical fight requiring medical care in the past 6 months (OR 5.08), and lifetime history of arrest (OR 5.1) or conviction (OR 6.7). Drugs and/or alcohol were used by victims prior to 78% of the assaults. Significant differences were not detected between females (76%) and males (79%). Overall, 47% of assault-injured youth and 15% of controls reported a history of a fight requiring medical treatment in the past 6 months.

DISCUSSION: Violence is a chronic and recurring disease, suggesting opportunities for interventions during health care contacts. Our population of assault-injured youth demonstrated significant rates of alcohol use and binge drinking, as well as alcohol use prior to the assault. Future secondary violence prevention initiatives should consider targeting alcohol use and abuse.

Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Global health; Violence