TY - JOUR
T1 - Family violence homicide rates
T2 - a state-wide comparison of three data sources in Victoria, Australia
AU - Sarkar, Reena
AU - Dipnall, Joanna F.
AU - Bassed, Richard
AU - Ozanne-Smith AO, Joan
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2021.
PY - 2023/9
Y1 - 2023/9
N2 - Background: Family violence homicide (FVH) is a major public health and social problem in Australia. FVH trend rates are key outcomes that determine the effectiveness of current management practices and policy directions. Data source–related methodological problems affect FVH research and policy and the reliable measurement of homicide trends. Objective: This study aimed to determine data reliability and temporal trends of Victorian FVH rates and sex and relationship patterns. Method: FVH rates per 100,000 persons in Victoria were compared between the National Coronial Information System (NCIS), Coroners Court of Victoria (CCoV) Homicide Register, and the National Homicide Monitoring Program (NHMP). Trends for 2001–2017 were analysed using Joinpoint regression. Crude rates were determined by sex and relationship categories using annual frequencies and Australian Bureau of Statistics population estimates. Results: NCIS closed FVH cases totalled 360, and an apparent downward trend in the FVH rate was identified. However, CCoV and NHMP rates trended upwards. While NCIS and CCoV were case-based, NHMP was incident-based, contributing to rate variations. The NCIS-derived trend was particularly impacted by unavailable case data, potential coding errors and entry backlog. Neither CCoV nor NHMP provided victim-age in their public domain data to enable age-adjusted rate comparison. Conclusion: Current datasets have limitations for FVH trend determination; most notably lag times for NCIS data. Implications: This study identified an indicative upward trend in FVH rates in Victoria, suggesting insufficiency of current management and policy settings for its prevention and control.
AB - Background: Family violence homicide (FVH) is a major public health and social problem in Australia. FVH trend rates are key outcomes that determine the effectiveness of current management practices and policy directions. Data source–related methodological problems affect FVH research and policy and the reliable measurement of homicide trends. Objective: This study aimed to determine data reliability and temporal trends of Victorian FVH rates and sex and relationship patterns. Method: FVH rates per 100,000 persons in Victoria were compared between the National Coronial Information System (NCIS), Coroners Court of Victoria (CCoV) Homicide Register, and the National Homicide Monitoring Program (NHMP). Trends for 2001–2017 were analysed using Joinpoint regression. Crude rates were determined by sex and relationship categories using annual frequencies and Australian Bureau of Statistics population estimates. Results: NCIS closed FVH cases totalled 360, and an apparent downward trend in the FVH rate was identified. However, CCoV and NHMP rates trended upwards. While NCIS and CCoV were case-based, NHMP was incident-based, contributing to rate variations. The NCIS-derived trend was particularly impacted by unavailable case data, potential coding errors and entry backlog. Neither CCoV nor NHMP provided victim-age in their public domain data to enable age-adjusted rate comparison. Conclusion: Current datasets have limitations for FVH trend determination; most notably lag times for NCIS data. Implications: This study identified an indicative upward trend in FVH rates in Victoria, suggesting insufficiency of current management and policy settings for its prevention and control.
KW - big data
KW - dataset
KW - domestic violence
KW - family violence
KW - health informatics
KW - health information management
KW - homicide
KW - homicide trends
KW - joinpoints regression
KW - methods
KW - public health
KW - public health surveillance
KW - supplementary keywords
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85120900375&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/18333583211060464
DO - 10.1177/18333583211060464
M3 - Article
C2 - 34875905
AN - SCOPUS:85120900375
SN - 1833-3583
VL - 52
SP - 135
EP - 143
JO - Health Information Management Journal
JF - Health Information Management Journal
IS - 3
ER -
