Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
-
Comparative Study
Emergency department characteristics of male sexual assault.
To characterize the nature, frequency, and treatment of male sexual assault encountered by physicians in an ED. A minor objective compared the lengths of time the victim knew the assailant between males and females to determine whether there were differences between male and female victims. ⋯ The percentage of total sexual assaults occurring in males who present to an ED is now more than 10% of all sexual assaults seen in this urban ED. These assaults are associated with a high proportion of patients with documented trauma. Although the treatment of traditional sexually transmitted diseases appears to be covered well, the need for HIV documentation, counseling, and possible HIV prophylaxis should be addressed more aggressively. In comparing the lengths of the relationships between the victim and the assailant, it appears twice as likely that the female victim will not know her assailant compared with the male, and twice as likely that the male victim will know his assailant less than 24 hours compared with the female.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
A health promotion intervention for families in a Medicaid managed care plan.
To determine whether implementation of an intervention based on a model of health promotion will encourage patients to seek care from their primary care provider (PCP) and reduce visits to the pediatric ED (PED) for minor illness. ⋯ There was no difference in health care utilization between the intervention and control groups at 12-month follow-up. The health promotion intervention did not alter utilization habits.
-
To test the hypotheses that ED patients' desires for medical information and for autonomy in decision making are inversely related to increasing acuity of illness, increasing age, and lower level of formal education. ⋯ Among ED patients able to participate, higher acuity of illness was not associated with a decreased desire for medical information. Many very acutely ill patients preferred autonomy in medical decision making. Older patients and those with less formal education expressed a lesser desire for decision-making autonomy.
-
Editorial Comment Review
Can acutely ill patients consent to research? Resolving an ethical dilemma with facts.
-
To establish the prevalence of domestic violence committed by women against male patients presenting to an urban ED for any reason. ⋯ Almost 13% of men in this sample population had been victims of domestic violence committed by a female intimate partner within the previous year. Further attention to the recognition and management of domestic violence committed by women against men may be warranted.