Characteristics of interpersonal violence-related injuries compared with unintentional injuries among Cameroonian patients >15 years old who sought hospital-level care between 2017 and 2020, stratified by sex
| Variable | Overall N=7605 | Males, n=5488 | Females, n=2117 | ||||
| IPVRI n=1060 | Unintentional n=4428 | P value | IPVRI n=306 | Unintentional n=1811 | P value | ||
| Hospital, n (%) | <0.001* | 0.014* | |||||
| LHD | 3250 (42.7) | 659 (62.2) | 1841 (41.6) | 97 (31.7) | 653 (36.0) | ||
| LRH | 2866 (37.7) | 278 (26.2) | 1633 (36.9) | 153 (50.0) | 802 (44.3) | ||
| ERH | 1061 (14.0) | 108 (10.2) | 646 (14.6) | 50 (16.3) | 257 (14.2) | ||
| CHP | 428 (5.6) | 15 (1.4) | 308 (6.9) | 6 (2.0) | 99 (5.5) | ||
| Mechanism, n (%) | <0.001* | <0.001* | |||||
| Road traffic injury | 4656 (61.2) | 5 (0.5) | 3357 (75.8) | 3 (1.0) | 1291 (71.3) | ||
| Struck by person, animal, object | 1073 (14.1) | 558 (52.6) | 202 (4.6) | 247 (80.7) | 66 (3.6) | ||
| Fall | 799 (10.5) | 17 (1.6) | 478 (10.8) | 9 (2.9) | 295 (16.3) | ||
| Stab or cut | 649 (8.6) | 383 (36.1) | 183 (4.1) | 27 (8.8) | 56 (3.1) | ||
| Firearm | 78 (1.0) | 62 (5.9) | 10 (0.2) | 4 (1.3) | 2 (0.1) | ||
| Other † | 319 (4.2) | 26 (2.4) | 183 (4.1) | 14 (4.6) | 96 (5.3) | ||
| Missing data | 31 (0.4) | 9 (0.9) | 15 (0.4) | 2 (0.7) | 5 (0.3) | ||
| Perpetrator, n (%) ‡ | |||||||
| Friend or acquaintance | 416 (30.5) | 325 (30.7) | – | 91 (29.8) | – | ||
| Stranger § | 369 (27.0) | 324 (30.6) | – | 45 (14.7) | – | ||
| Partner or ex-partner | 152 (11.1) | 29 (2.7) | – | 123 (40.2) | – | ||
| Parent, guardian, or other relative | 43 (3.1) | 24 (2.2) | – | 19 (6.2) | – | ||
| Police | 34 (2.5) | 33 (3.1) | – | 1 (0.3) | – | ||
| Unknown | 352 (25.8) | 325 (30.7) | – | 27 (8.8) | – | ||
| Location, n (%) | <0.001* | <0.001* | |||||
| Road or highway | 5311 (69.8) | 466 (44.0) | 3453 (78.0) | 48 (15.7) | 1344 (74.2) | ||
| Home or private residence | 977 (12.9) | 152 (14.3) | 317 (7.2) | 169 (55.2) | 339 (18.7) | ||
| Trade, service, or construction area | 459 (6.0) | 170 (16.0) | 225 (5.1) | 36 (11.8) | 28 (1.5) | ||
| Public area | 301 (4.0) | 180 (17.0) | 64 (1.4) | 38 (12.4) | 19 (1.1) | ||
| Farm | 228 (3.0) | 13 (1.2) | 181 (4.1) | 2 (0.7) | 32 (1.8) | ||
| Other | 293 (3.8) | 62 (5.9) | 181 (4.1) | 12 (3.9) | 38 (2.1) | ||
| Missing data | 36 (0.5) | 17 (1.6) | 7 (0.1) | 1 (0.3) | 11 (0.6) | ||
| Transport to hospital, n (%) | <0.001* | <0.001* | |||||
| Taxi | 3800 (50.0) | 491 (46.3) | 2225 (50.3) | 149 (48.7) | 935 (51.6) | ||
| Motorcycle | 1924 (25.3) | 316 (29.8) | 1055 (23.8) | 115 (37.6) | 438 (24.2) | ||
| Private vehicle | 1007 (13.2) | 57 (5.4) | 677 (15.3) | 20 (6.5) | 253 (14.0) | ||
| Police or firefighters | 209 (2.7) | 131 (12.4) | 58 (1.3) | 3 (1.0) | 17 (0.9) | ||
| Ambulance | 128 (1.7) | 11 (1.0) | 82 (1.9) | 1 (0.3) | 34 (1.9) | ||
| Other | 410 (5.4) | 36 (3.4) | 263 (5.9) | 12 (3.9) | 99 (5.5) | ||
| Missing data | 127 (1.7) | 18 (1.7) | 68 (1.5) | 6 (2.0) | 35 (1.9) | ||
| Injury severity score¶ | 0.966 | <0.001* | |||||
| Median (IQR) | 8 (2–13) | 9 (4–13) | 8 (2–13) | 3 (1–8) | 5 (1–12) | ||
| Disposition from ED, n (%) | <0.001* | <0.001* | |||||
| Discharged home | 4679 (61.5) | 780 (73.6) | 2410 (54.4) | 266 (86.9) | 1223 (67.5) | ||
| Admitted to hospital | 1195 (15.7) | 96 (9.1) | 822 (18.6) | 18 (5.9) | 259 (14.3) | ||
| Transferred | 380 (5.0) | 52 (4.9) | 254 (5.7) | 1 (0.3) | 73 (4.0) | ||
| Left against medical advice | 1114 (14.7) | 81 (7.6) | 796 (18.0) | 17 (5.6) | 220 (12.2) | ||
| Died | 127 (1.7) | 21 (2.0) | 80 (1.8) | 1 (0.3) | 25 (1.4) | ||
| Missing data | 110 (1.4) | 30 (2.8) | 66 (1.5) | 3 (1.0) | 11 (0.6) | ||
| Overall hospital mortality, n (%) ** | 0.882 | 0.074 | |||||
| Died | 153 (2.0) | 24 (2.3) | 98 (2.3) | 1 (0.3) | 30 (1.7) | ||
*Significant at the p<0.05 level.
†Includes animal bite, drowning/submersion, burn, scald, poisoning, suffocation/choking/hanging, electrocution, explosive blast, envenomation or other.
‡Only applies to the 1366 patients with IPVRI.
§Among those injured by strangers, 79 male patients were suspected to have been injured in a situation of ‘popular justice,’ in which witnesses of an alleged crime beat the perpetrator as punishment.
¶Injury severity score ranges from 1 to 75, with higher scores indicating more severe injury.
**Overall hospital mortality includes deaths recorded in the ED and deaths which occurred during hospital admission. Of note, there were 150 patients (125 men, 25 women) who were missing overall hospital mortality data.
CHP, Catholic Hospital Pouma ; ED, emergency department; ERH, Edea Regional Hospital ; IPVRI, interpersonal violence-related injury; LHD, Laquintinie Hospital of Douala ; LRH, Limbe Regional Hospital .