Korean J Fam Pract. 2018; 8(2): 244-251  https://doi.org/10.21215/kjfp.2018.8.2.244
Victimization Characteristics and Severity of Physical Injury by Domestic Violence
Cheol-Woo Park, Seock-Hwan Lee*, Deag-Yoon Choi, Hye-Young Yang
Department of Family Medicine, Daegu Medical Center, Daegu, Korea
Seock-Hwan Lee
Tel: +82-53-560-7390, Fax: +82-53-560-7499
E-mail: fmdsky@hanmail.net
ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0638-643X
Received: May 4, 2017; Revised: August 10, 2017; Accepted: August 15, 2017; Published online: April 20, 2018.
© The Korean Academy of Family Medicine. All rights reserved.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Background: Domestic violence is increasing every year, and is a crime that causes physical, emotional, and mental injuries. The purpose of this study was to provide basic data for the early detection and treatment of domestic violence victims in primary care by analyzing basic victimization characteristics and physical injuries in these victims.
Methods: This study retrospectively reviewed the initial interview and medical records of 239 victims of domestic violence who visited Sunflower Center and Emergency Center from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2016. We analyzed the basic characteristics of the victimization and correlation by identifying the type, anatomical location, and severity of the physical injuries.
Results: Of the 239 victims of domestic violence examined in this study, 191 (79.9%) were physically injured by a ssailants, and their average New Injury Severity Score was 2.93 points. The types of injuries included contusions, abrasions, lacerations, fractures, subconjunctival hemorrhages, perforation of tympanic membranes, tooth fractures, and subarachnoid hemorrhages. Most of the physical injuries were observed in the face, upper extremities, and head and neck areas. Of the 47 victims who visited the medical center, 45 (95.7%) persons were physically injured, and the average severity score was 5.40±4.15, which was higher than that of the other group (P＜0.000).
Conclusion: Active initial intervention of doctors is needed because most instances of domestic violence are accompanied by physical injuries. When a female trauma patient visits a medical center, the doctors should promptly and accurately check for the existence of domestic violence through physical examination and history taking.
Keywords: Domestic Violence; Physical Abuse; Spouse Abuse; Date Violence
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