Domestic Violence and Relationship to Alcohol Use at an Emergency Department in Eastern Taiwan

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Objectives: Intentional injuries cause major health issues in young adults in Taiwan. Domestic violence (DV) also threatens the health and safety of family members in Taiwan, and alcohol involvement may play a role in the violence. This study investigated the characteristics of DV patients and their association with alcohol drinking. Materials and Methods: Since 2004, an injury surveillance system has been set up in a medical center, collecting the minimal information recommended by the World Health Organization. For each patient, the attending nurse completed an injury-coding sheet that included the results of an assessment of whether the patient had an alcohol odor or alcohol consumption related behavior. Patients admitted to the emergency department (ED) because of an injury that was the result of violence (being in a fight or being attacked by someone at home) were included in this study. Injuries were defined as alcohol-associated based on the report of ”alcohol odor” or ”intoxicated” by the nurse. Medical records of DV injuries were reviewed for confirmation of DV, record of the offender and any known mental disorder. Logistic regression was used to assess the significant factors related to alcohol-associated violent injuries. Results: Of 11,837 trauma visits, 142 patients had DV injuries. Females accounted for 67.6% of injured patients and 59.2% were aged 24-44 years. Of the 142 patients, 37.3% (95% confidence interval [CI], 29.4-45.3) of them had alcohol-associated injuries. The percentage of alcohol-associated DV injuries was 50.0% (95% CI, 36.1-63.8) for males and 31.3% (95% CI, 22.0-40.5) for females. Multiple logistic regression analysis found that being male (odds ratio [OR] 4.3; 95% CI, 1.7-12.0), being aged 25 to 44 years (OR 3.4; 95% CI, 1.3-8.9), visiting after midnight (OR 7.8; 95% CI, 2.1-28.6), presenting at the ED between 4 pm and midnight (OR 5.7; 95% CI, 1.8-18.4) or on a week day (OR 3.8; 95% CI, 1.5-10.1) meant a significant increase in the likelihood of alcohol involvement. Conclusions: Alcohol use was found to be present in one-third in the DV injuries from an ED in eastern Taiwan. Ongoing epidemiological investigations of the causal relationship between alcohol use and DV are urgently needed.