Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Mar 4;22(2):291-296.
doi: 10.5811/westjem.2020.12.49045.

Coding of Sexual Assault by Emergency Physicians: A Nationally Representative Study

Vithya Murugan  1 , Katherine J Holzer  2 , Michael G Vaughn  1   3 , Jason T Carbone  4 , Dylan B Jackson  5 , Cindy C Bitter  6
Affiliations

Coding of Sexual Assault by Emergency Physicians: A Nationally Representative Study

Vithya Murugan et al. West J Emerg Med. .

Abstract

Introduction: Sexual assault is a public health problem that affects many Americans and has multiple long-lasting effects on victims. Medical evaluation after sexual assault frequently occurs in the emergency department, and documentation of the visit plays a significant role in decisions regarding prosecution and outcomes of legal cases against perpetrators. The American College of Emergency Physicians recommends coding such visits as sexual assault rather than adding modifiers such as "alleged."

Methods: This study reviews factors associated with coding of visits as sexual assault compared to suspected sexual assault using the 2016 Nationwide Emergency Department Sample.

Results: Younger age, female gender, a larger number of procedure codes, urban hospital location, and lack of concurrent alcohol use are associated with coding for confirmed sexual assault.

Conclusion: Implications of this coding are discussed.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: By the WestJEM article submission agreement, all authors are required to disclose all affiliations, funding sources and financial or management relationships that could be perceived as potential sources of bias. No author has professional or financial relationships with any companies that are relevant to this study. There are no conflicts of interest or sources of funding to declare.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Basile KC, Smith SG. Sexual violence victimization of women: prevalence, characteristics, and the role of public health and prevention. Am J Lifestyle Med. 2011;5(5):407–17.
    1. Breiding MJ, Smith SG, Basile KC, et al. Prevalence and characteristics of sexual violence, stalking, and intimate partner violence victimization-national intimate partner and sexual violence survey, United States, 2011. MMWR Surveill Summ. 2014;63(8):1–18. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Peterson C, DeGue S, Florence C, et al. Lifetime economic burden of rape among U.S. adults. Am J Prev Med. 2017;52(6):691–701. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Jina R, Thomas LS. Health consequences of sexual violence against women. Best Pract Res Clin Obstet Gynaecol. 2013;27(1):15–26. - PubMed
    1. Chandra PS, Satyanarayana VA, Carey MP. Women reporting intimate partner violence in India: associations with PTSD and depressive symptoms. Arch Womens Ment Health. 2009;12:203–9. - PMC - PubMed

MeSH terms