Repeat victims of violence - Report of a large concurrent case-control study

Hypothesis: Repeat victims of violence (violence victim recidivism) is a ph enomenon known throughout the nation by those who work in hospital emergenc y departments. A level 1 trauma center in Baltimore, Md, conducted this stu dy to investigate the postulated risk factors for repeat victims of violenc e, ie, unemployment, limited educational attainment, and involvement with i licit drug use or drug dealing. Design: A case-control study identified 200 cases and 224 controls during a 16-month period. Cases were persons admitted with traumatic injury seconda ry to violent assault who had been previously hospitalized for a similar re ason. Controls were a random selection of eligible age- and sex-matched pat ients admitted for reasons unrelated to violent injury. Results: Prominent risk factors associated with recidivism were African Ame rican male, median age 31 years, unemployed, lacking medical insurance, ann ual less than $10 000, current drug user, past or present drug dealer, and a positive lest for psychoactive substances on admission to the hospital. O ne hundred seventy-two (86%) of the cases felt that disrespect (called " di ssing" in the local vernacular) was involved with their injury. Conclusions: The multiplicity of risk factors and the fact that they are in terrelated mandate a comprehensive approach to the difficult problem of vio lence recidivism. Experiments in hospital-based intention strategies are ne eded.