Jurnal Internasional vol.12 issue 1 2022
African Journal of Emergency Medicine
Incidence and factors associated with being a victim of community assault; retrospective review of medical records in an Emergency Centre

Dublin Core

Title

Jurnal Internasional vol.12 issue 1 2022
African Journal of Emergency Medicine
Incidence and factors associated with being a victim of community assault; retrospective review of medical records in an Emergency Centre

Subject

Assault
Community assault
Crush syndrome
Injury
Interpersonal violence

Description

Introduction: Community assault is an interpersonal violence frequently seen in the emergency centres around
South Africa. Its aim is to inflict serious injuries to a suspected perpetrator. Data has not been published in
Mamelodi Regional Hospital setting whereas the cases have been observed in the emergency centre (EC). The
study objectives were to determine the incidence and factors associated with being a victim of community assault
in the EC in a regional hospital in Pretoria and clinical outcomes.
Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of adult patients who were treated for assault in the EC
of Mamelodi Regional Hospital between 5 March 2017 and 5 March 2018. EC electronic registries and medical
file were used to identify all patients who presented with body injuries due to assault.
Results: Only 807 of 1070 medical records had complete data on the exposure variables of study interest. Of the
807 participants who presented with body injury due to assault, 77 (9.544% (95% CI 7.52 to 11.57)) were due to
community assault. The majority of the victims were young adults, of male gender and not married. More than
half of the participants were unemployed. Young adult age doubled the odds of being a victim of community
assault odds ratio (OR) 2.19 (95% CI 1.02 to 4.70). The odds of being a victim of community assault for males
were 11 times the odds of females OR 11.30 (95% CI 2.74 to 46.49). Of the 77 victims of community assault, 45
(58%) were admitted, 25 (32%) were discharged after receiving treatment, 6 (8%) refused treatment and 1 (1%)
died.
Discussion: We describe the incidence of, and factors associated with, community assault in the EC of Mamelodi
Regional Hospital in Pretoria. Our findings suggest that a modest incidence rate of being a victim of community
assault. Young adult males are mostly the target victims of community and non-community assault. Further
research is needed to understanding factors precipitating community assault and to test potential community and
non-community assault prevention interventions, targeting young adult males.

Creator

Ndedi Phoba , Moleen Zunza

Date

10 November 2021

Contributor

peri irawan

Format

pdf

Language

english

Type

text

Files

Citation

Ndedi Phoba , Moleen Zunza , “Jurnal Internasional vol.12 issue 1 2022
African Journal of Emergency Medicine
Incidence and factors associated with being a victim of community assault; retrospective review of medical records in an Emergency Centre,” Repository Horizon University Indonesia, accessed February 5, 2025, https://repository.horizon.ac.id/items/show/1875.