Intimate Partner Violence Injury Patterns Differ Between Men, Women

TUESDAY, Dec. 28, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Presentation of physical intimate partner violence (IPV) injuries differs between men and women, according to a study published online Dec. 16 in Aggressive Behavior.

Bharti Khurana, M.D., from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, and colleagues used data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System-All Injury Program (2005 to 2015) to establish differences in physical injury patterns among male and female IPV victims.

The researchers found that IPV accounted for 0.61 percent of all emergency department visits, of which 17.2 percent involved men and 82.8 percent involved women. Compared with female patients, male patients were older (36.1 versus 16.8 percent older than 60 years), were more likely to be Black (40.5 versus 28.8 percent), sustained more injuries due to cutting (28.1 versus 3.5 percent), had more lacerations (46.9 versus 13.0 percent), presented with more injuries to the upper extremity (25.8 versus 14.1 percent), and sustained fewer contusions/abrasions (30.1 versus 49.0 percent). Men also had more hospitalizations (7.9 versus 3.7 percent).

“Our findings are contrary to the general notion that violence perpetrated by women is not capable of causing severe injuries to their partners,” Khurana said in a statement. “Moreover, men are less likely to seek help as they are less likely to recognize it as criminal, may see IPV as unmasculine, and fear being ridiculed.”

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