Trends in admission to hospital for assault in Northern Ireland, 1996/97-2008/09

Abstract

The aim of the study is to investigate in-patient admission trends for assaults in Northern Ireland. Of particular interest was whether trends in the hospital data increased in line with police statistics, or decreased in line with the Northern Ireland Crime Survey, and paramilitary style punishment attacks. Time-series analysis of Northern Ireland hospital inpatient data, 1 April 1996 until 31 March 2009, obtained from the Northern Ireland Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety was performed. For comparative purposes, police data for 'wounding/grievous bodily harm with intent' and punishment attacks were obtained from the Police Service of Northern Ireland. Data were standardized using rate per 100 000 people. The hospital in-patient data set comprised a total of 25 412 cases, over the period of 1 April 1996-31 March 2009. Inpatient admissions for assault-related injuries peaked in 2001/02 (n = 2297). The majority of assaults treated over the entire period was from bodily force (62%, n = 15 874). A 23% decline was observed for hospital admission rates for assault-related injuries. This decreasing trend was found for all types of assaults. The greatest decline was for assault by firearm discharge (55%). The decline in assault-related hospital admissions is in contrast to the increase reported police data, supporting findings from previous studies. Similar decreasing trends in the hospital and punishment attack data are also identifiable, particularly for Belfast.