A population-based study of repeat hospital admissions due to interpersonal violence for children aged 0-9 years

Abstract

To assess the magnitude and nature of interpersonal violence resulting in hospitalisation of children and to identify subgroups at risk of repeat hospital admissions, a population-based, retrospective study of all violence hospitalisations in Western Australia for children aged 9 years or less was undertaken, using the 1990-2004 linked data retrieved from the Western Australian Mortality Database and the Hospital Morbidity Data System. Of the 747 patients aged <10 years incurring 834 hospitalisations for the consequences of violence during the study period, 570 (76%) were less than 4 years of age. A total of 43 deaths from violence were recorded and 74 (9%) patients were admitted for more than one episode of violence. Victims aged 0-4 years from rural (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.72; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.35, 5.43) and remote parts (HR = 2.79; 95% CI 1.25, 6.25) of the state were at increased risk of a subsequent admission for violence compared with those residing within the metropolitan area. Indigenous children aged 5-9 years were significantly more likely (HR = 3.57; 95% CI 1.14, 11.13) to incur a second hospitalisation for violence than their non-Indigenous counterparts. The identification of young victim subgroups at high risk of repeat hospitalisations is important for developing intervention strategies to reduce the burden of interpersonal violence. Young children aged 0-4 years living in rural and remote locations and Indigenous children aged 5-9 years should be specifically targeted for attention.