Facial Injuries and the Gender Issue: Expressions of Violence in a Metropolitan Region of Northeastern Brazil

Abstract

The aims of this investigation were to describe the profile of men and women victims of violence and identify factors associated with the severity of facial trauma. A retrospective study was carried out from 762 records of victims attended at the Institute of Legal Medicine and Dentistry located in a metropolitan region of Northeastern Brazil. The dependent variable was type of facial trauma suffered by victims. Independent variables were the sociodemographic characteristics of victims, characteristics of aggressors and circumstances of violence. Descriptive, bivariate (c2 test) and multivariate statistics were made through logistic regression. Level of significance was set at p < 0.05. The mean age of victims was 29.78 years (SD=13.33). Based on the final regression model, male subjects [odds ratio (OR)=2.22, 95% CI=1.08-4.57, p=0.030], assaulted by other male subjects (OR=4.88; 95% CI=1.12-21.26; p=0.035) through instrument (OR=6.67; 95% CI=2.85-15.60; p<0,001) or mixed aggressions (OR=4.34; 95% CI=1.44-13.02; p=0.009) were more likely to exhibit facial bone fractures or dentoalveolar fractures. The findings highlight that men and women present important victimization differentials in relation to interpersonal violence and facial trauma. Victim’s gender, aggressor’s gender and mechanism of aggression may exert influence on facial trauma patterns.

The profile of patients with maxillofacial trauma due to interpersonal violence treated in a hospital emergency room

“…However, some studies on IPV that analyzed samples from legal medical institutes have indicated a higher incidence of maxillofacial soft tissue trauma in females. 10,11 In this study, the nose was the most fractured bone, followed by the mandible and zygomatic complex. The most commonly fractured location due to IPV observed in other studies was the nose, 2,5,23 or mandible.…”

“…This value is within the values presented in previous studies, which ranged from 2.9% to 8.4%. 11,14 However, research conducted in a forensic institute revealed that more than 50% patients had dentoalveolar trauma. 12 This difference could be attributed to the nature of demand on the part of the patient.…”

“…[7][8][9] Many studies have focused on patients with maxillofacial trauma due to IPV in Brazil who were treated in forensic medicine institutes. 4,[10][11][12] However, only few studies have analyzed such patients who are treated in hospitals. 13,14 The analysis of patients being treated in a hospital environment is crucial because the identification of the most vulnerable populations and assessment of the needs of health services can help in designing programs aimed at aiding patients in coping with violence, outlining clinical protocols for the treatment of patients with maxillofacial trauma, and devising violence prevention strategies based on contextual and situational factors observed in different geographic regions to decrease the number of cases of maxillofacial trauma.…”

Estudo retrospectivo do trauma maxilofacial decorrente de violência atendido em um pronto socorro hospitalar

“…Uma tendência de aumento da incidência de violência interpessoal como causa do trauma maxilofacial ao longo da última década em muitos países, superando inclusive os acidentes de trânsito, tem sido descrita (Kraft et al, 2012;Juncar et al, 2021). (Lee, 2009;Businger et al, 2012;Goulart et al, 2014;Roccia et al, 2016;da Nóbrega et al, 2017;York et al, 2019;Cavalcante et al, 2020;Lopes Sá et al, 2020).…”

“…O estudo retrospectivo realizado no instituto médico legal concluiu que os homens apresentaram maior probabilidade de apresentar ossos ou fraturas dentoalveolares quando comparados com mulheres (Cavalcante et al, 2020). Di Mase, 1994).…”