title: United States emergency department visits coded for intimate partner violence.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Limited information exists about medical treatment for victims of intimate partner violence (IPV).
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Our aim was to estimate the number of emergency department (ED) visits and subsequent hospitalizations that were assigned a code specific to IPV and to describe the clinical and sociodemographic features of this population.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data from the Nationwide Emergency Department Sample from 2006-2009 were analyzed. Cases with an external cause of injury code of E967.3 (battering by spouse or partner) were abstracted.
  
  
  RESULTS
  From 2006-2009, there were 112,664 visits made to United States EDs with an e-code for battering by a partner or spouse. Most patients were female (93%) with a mean age of 35 years. Patients were significantly more likely to reside in communities with the lowest median income quartile and in the Southern United States. Approximately 5% of visits resulted in hospital admission. The mean charge for treat-and-release visits was $1904.69 and $27,068.00 for hospitalizations. Common diagnoses included superficial injuries and contusions, skull/face fractures, and complications of pregnancy. Females were more likely to experience superficial injuries and contusions, and males were more likely to have open wounds of the head, neck, trunk, and extremities.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  From 2006 to 2009, there were approximately 28,000 ED visits per year with an e-code specific to IPV. Although a minority, 7% of these visits were made by males, which has not been reported previously. Future prospective research should confirm the unique demographic and geographic features of these visits to guide development of targeted screening and intervention strategies to mitigate IPV and further characterize male IPV visits.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia; Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia.
authors.forename: Danielle M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Davidov
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia; Department of Medical Education, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia.
authors.forename: Hollynn
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Larrabee
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia.
authors.forename: Stephen M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Davis
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D017722:Hospital Charges; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011204:Poverty Areas; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors; D013179:Spouse Abuse / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000628:therapy; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy
keywords: HCUP; NEDS; Nationwide Emergency Department Sample; emergency department; external cause of injury codes (e-codes); intimate partner violence