title: Results from the Hawaii domestic violence fatality review, 2000-2009.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Patterns of domestic violence fatalities and agency responses in Hawaii have not been explicated.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective reviews of events leading up to domestic violence related fatalities in Hawaii were assessed from 45 adjudicated cases that resulted in 62 fatalities for the ten year period from 2000-2009.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Almost one-half of the fatalities were homicide/suicide combinations. Females were disproportionately more likely to be fatal victims of domestic violence relative to their proportion in the population. Those aged 21-40 years and those over 80 years were more likely to be fatal victims of domestic violence, relative to their proportion in the population. Filipinas and 'Other" ethnic groups are disproportionately more likely to be fatal victims of domestic violence while Native Hawaiians and Japanese are less likely to be fatal victims, relative to their proportions in the population. In more than two-thirds of the cases, the victim had made some attempt to leave the relationship prior to the fatality.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In the majority of cases there was agency involvement in some form: either the victim alone or the perpetrator alone, or both. However, less than one-third (31.1%) of the cases over the past ten years had documentation of prior violence from medical reports, so this may be an area to further document and address domestic violence.
authors.affiliation: State Department of Health, Hawaii, US. Email: ann.pobutsky@doh.hawaii.gov.
authors.forename: Ann
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pobutsky
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Nakao
authors.forename: Florentina
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Reyes-Salvail
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003416:Criminal Law / Q000458:organization & administration*; D017579:Domestic Violence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005554:Forensic Medicine; D006254:Hawaii; D006708:Homicide / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012940:Social Problems / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D018454:Spouses / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult