NCJ Number
138155
Journal
American Journal of Public Health Volume: 81 Issue: 11 Dated: (November 1991) Pages: 1474-1476
Date Published
1991
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This study examined rates of fatal and nonfatal interpersonal-violence-related injuries (IVRI) in neighborhoods comprising 17 census tracts with 68,103 largely African-American indigent residents of Philadelphia. Information on violence-related injuries was collected by an active emergency room surveillance system, the Office of the Medical Examiner, and death certificate files.
Abstract
On the basis of these records, IVRI's were classified as child abuse, rape, stabbings, firearm incidents, or other assaults. The findings showed that violence-related injuries surpassed any other injury type for the population sample between the ages of 15 and 49. The overall IVRI rate was 28.7 per 1,000 population. Such injuries were important for the 0- to 4-year-old group (9.19 injuries per 1,000 population) and continued as a major source of morbidity through age 59 (12.08 injuries per 1,000 population). For more than half the events, emergency room information categorized the incident as a fight and provided no additional information. The results highlighted the magnitude of the problem, the need to look at the full spectrum of violence-related injuries, the need to address violence occurring to young children, and the need for more comprehensive information to be recorded on emergency room charts. 1 figure, 4 tables, 7 references, and 1 appendix