Pattern and severity of the injuries in the victims of violence

Background and Objective: Our aim was to evaluate the prevalence and population ratio of violence in our center which is one of the tertiary referral centers of trauma in Tehran. We also aimed to evaluate the motiva-tions of the struggle, the instrument used, and the type of injuries in the patients who had referred to us after a struggle. Methods: In this cross-sectional retrospective study, all 152 patients who had referred to Rasool Akram Hospital for violence and struggles between October 2009 and March 2010 were evaluated. A self-made ques-tionnaire containing data- including age, sex, level of education, job, time of the struggle, previous history of reference to the Forensic Medicine Organization for violence, history of alcohol and substance abuse, type of the injury, the instrument used for mayhem, and the part of the body injured- was filled. The data was entered into the SPSS software version 11.5 and analyzed using t test (for quantitative) and chi 2 test (for qualitative) variables. Results: 115 (75%) patients were female and 37 (25%) were male. Most of the patients were in the age group of 10 to 20 years (n=66; 43.4%). Most of the patients’ level of education was 8th grade (n=66; 43.4%). They were mostly housewives (n=33; 54.6%) and 24 (15.8%) were unemployed. Most had referred after domes-tic violence (n=106; 61.7%). A total of 73 (48%) had the previous history of violence and reference to the Fo-rensic Medicine Organization. History of alcohol, opium, and stimulants were present in 14 (9.2%), 23(15.1%), and 12(7.9%), respectively. The most common type of injuries were abrasions and bruises (n=113; 74.3%). The most common location of the injury was in the head and neck (n=70; 46.1%). Conclusion: Attention to the social position of women and youth is warranted in our country. Especially, re-garding the high prevalence of domestic violence, educating women to cope with dangerous situations seems quite necessary.