title: Pattern of oral-maxillofacial trauma from violence against women and its associated factors.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Violence against women is a global public health problem. The aim of this study was to characterize the profile of women victims of violence and identify factors associated with maxillofacial injuries.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study was performed based on an evaluation of 884 medico-legal and social records of women victims of physical aggression treated at the Center of Forensic Medicine and Dentistry in Brazil. The variables investigated were related to the sociodemographic characteristics of victims, circumstances of aggressions, and patterns of trauma. Descriptive and multivariate statistics using decision tree analysis by the Chi-squared automatic interaction detector (CHAID) algorithm, as well as univariate and multivariate Poisson regression analyses were performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The occurrence of maxillofacial trauma was 46.4%. The mean age of victims was 29.38 (SD=12.55 years). Based on decision tree, the profile of violence against women can be explained by the aggressor's gender (P<.001) and sociodemographic characteristics of victims, such as marital status (P=.001), place of residence (P=.019), and educational level (P=.014). Based on the final Poisson regression model, women living in suburban areas were more likely to suffer maxillofacial trauma (PR=1.752; CI 95%=1.153-2.662; P=.009) compared to those living in rural areas. Moreover, aggression using a weapon resulted in a lower occurrence of maxillofacial trauma (PR=0.476; CI 95%=0.284-0.799; P=.005) compared to cases of aggression using physical force.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence of oral-maxillofacial trauma was high, and the main associated factors were place of residence and mechanism of aggression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dentistry and Public Health, State University of Paraíba, Campina Grande, Brazil.
authors.forename: Lorena Marques
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: da Nóbrega
authors.affiliation: Department of Dentistry and Public Health, State University of Paraíba, Campina Grande, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ítalo de Macedo
authors.initials: ÍM
authors.lastname: Bernardino
authors.affiliation: Department of Dentistry and Public Health, State University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
authors.forename: Kevan Guilherme Nóbrega
authors.initials: KGN
authors.lastname: Barbosa
authors.affiliation: Department of Dentistry and Public Health, State University of Paraíba, Campina Grande, Brazil.
authors.forename: Jéssica Antoniana Lira
authors.initials: JAL
authors.lastname: E Silva
authors.affiliation: Department of Dentistry and Public Health, State University of Paraíba, Campina Grande, Brazil.
authors.forename: Andreza Cristina de Lima Targino
authors.initials: ACLT
authors.lastname: Massoni
authors.affiliation: Department of Dentistry and Public Health, State University of Paraíba, Campina Grande, Brazil.
authors.forename: Sérgio
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7836-896X
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: d'Avila
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D018585:Battered Women / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003663:Decision Trees; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008446:Maxillofacial Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D014754:Violence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
keywords: epidemiology; maxillofacial injuries; violence against women