Women and intimate partner violence: Prevalence of hospital visits and nature of injuries in the Icelandic population.

• Published in: Scandinavian Journal of Public Health
• Main Authors: Jónasdóttir, Drífa, Thorsteinsdottir, Thordis, Ásgeirsdóttir, Tinna Laufey, Lund, Sigrún H, Arnarsson, Eiríkur Örn, Ashikali, Eleni, Líndal, Þórhildur, Mogensen, Brynjólfur
• Other Authors: 1Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland. 2Research Institute in Emergency Medicine, Reykjavik, Iceland. 3Faculty of Nursing, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland. 4Faculty of Economics, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland. 5The Centre of Public Health Sciences, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland. 6Department of Psychiatry, Landspitali National University Hospital, Reykjavik, Iceland. 7Formerly at School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK. 8The Ombudsman for Children in Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland. 9Emergency Department, Landspitali National University Hospital, Reykjavik, Iceland.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publications 2020
• Subjects: Intimate partner violence; admissions; domestic violence; location of injuries; prevalence; severity; Hospitals; Iceland
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2336/621393; https://doi.org/10.1177/1403494820916093

To access publisher's full text version of this article click on the hyperlink below Aims: The purpose of this study was to analyse the prevalence of hospital visits and nature of injuries caused by intimate partner violence (IPV) against women and associated costs. Methods: All visits to Landspitali National University Hospital by women 18 years or older subjected to IPV, inflicted by a current or former male partner during 2005-2014, were observed and analysed. Information was obtained on number, date and time of visits and admissions, place of occurrence, patients' and perpetrators' age and relationship, number of perpetrators, medical diagnosis, aetiology, injury severity and cost. Results: The number of new hospital visits due to IPV was 1454, of which 92.6% were to the Emergency Department. The average age of the women was 34 years and 3.2% were admitted. According to the Injury Severity Score, physical injuries were mostly minor (92.4%) and mainly located on the upper body (64.3%) - namely, face, head and neck (37.1%) and upper limbs (27.2%). The majority of injuries were superficial (76.2%) and punching (29.7%), shoving (17.8%), kicking (10.5%) and attempted strangulation (9.8%) were the most common types of aetiology. Repeated new visits were 37.8%. The total cost for the hospital relating to IPV was €783,330. Conclusions: The total number of new visits resulting from IPV was 1454, and prevalence was 1.69 per 1000 women in the capital area over the research period. The majority of women were shown to have minor physical injuries of a superficial nature, located on the upper body. Although a low percentage of women were admitted, the associated cost for visits and admissions was substantial. Human Rights Council of Reykjavik City Ministry of Internal Affairs Ministry of Welfare Equality Fund of Iceland The Women's Shelter Landspitali Science Fund LUH