[Hate violence in the emergency rooms of third level hospitals. First data in Spain]

Abstract

Objective: To describe the cases of hate violence attended in emergency services.

Method: A cross-sectional study of a series of cases of aggression treated in the emergency rooms of two hospitals in Madrid, between April 2015 and March 2018. The cases of hate violence are described in terms of their sociodemographic, clinical-epidemiological and incident data and compared with other types of violence within the study.

Results: A total of 147 patients were included and 49% reported having been victims of hate violence. Among the victims, 61% were men, the average age was 36 years and 48% had a medium-high level of education. The most frequent motivations were physical appearance, nationality and ethnic origin. The place of aggression was the street in 50%, and in 61% of the cases it was perpetrated by more than one person (83% by men). The most common injury was contusion (71%) and the most frequent location the head and neck (71%). Only 8% required admission.

Conclusions: The surveillance of hate violence would foster more accurate knowledge of the real magnitude and characteristics of this health problem and improve the quality of care for victims.

Keywords: Emergency medical services; Epidemiology; Epidemiología; Servicios médicos de urgencias; Violence; Violencia.