A population-based cross-sectional study examining homicides among community-dwelling older adults in Victoria, Australia: A study protocol.

Autor: Kennedy B; Department of Forensic Medicine, Monash University, Southbank, Victoria, Australia., Bugeja L; Department of Forensic Medicine, Monash University, Southbank, Victoria, Australia., Olivier J; School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia., Koppel S; Monash University Accident Research Centre, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia., Dwyer J; Coroners Prevention Unit, Coroners Court of Victoria, Southbank, Victoria, Australia., Ibrahim J; Department of Forensic Medicine, Monash University, Southbank, Victoria, Australia.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: PloS one [PLoS One] 2023 Oct 13; Vol. 18 (10), pp. e0292837. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Oct 13 (Print Publication: 2023).
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0292837
Abstrakt: Background: There is a need for both descriptive and analytical evidence on the factors associated with older adult homicide. The current landscape is insufficient because most published research is confined to the United States, and contains insufficient data about the homicide context. This study protocol describes the proposed method for examining the characteristics and factors associated with older adult homicide in the Australian state of Victoria, using data generated for the criminal and coronial investigation into these deaths stored in the Victorian Homicide Register (VHR). Outcomes will support practitioners, policy makers and other key stakeholders to strengthen prevention strategies to reduce the risk of future homicides among older Victorians.
Methods: This study will comprise a single-jurisdiction population-based cross-sectional design to analyse consecutive cases of homicide among community-dwelling older adults in Victoria, Australia for the period 2001 to 2015. All homicides of adults aged 18 years and older, and where the Coroner's investigation is completed at data extraction will be included. Variables will be selected in accordance with elements of the social-ecological model (i.e., individual, interpersonal, incident, and community). This will include: socio-demographic characteristics; presence of mental or physical illness; deceased-offender relationship; nature of any abuse between the deceased and offender; incident location and weapon used; the presence of alcohol or drugs; and criminal justice outcomes. Homicide rates per 100,000 population will be calculated for older adults (aged 65 years and older) and younger adults (aged 18-64 years), and compared as rate ratios using Poisson regression. Descriptive statistics and cross-tabulation will be generated for factors associated with homicide for older compared to younger adults. Homicide typologies based on deceased-offender relationship and motive will be explored within group and family homicides will be compared between older and younger adults.
Competing Interests: LB was previously employed at the Coroners Court of Victoria, managed the Coroners Prevention Unit, including the Victorian Systematic Review of Family Violence Deaths and was involved in the development of the Victorian Homicide Register. JD is employed in the Coroners Prevention Unit, Coroners Court of Victoria and was involved in the development of the Victorian Homicide Register. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials. There are no other conflicts of interest to declare.
(Copyright: © 2023 Kennedy et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
Externí odkaz:
Nepřihlášeným uživatelům se plný text nezobrazuje