Incidentieverschillen van (gewelddadige) ingrijpende gebeurtenissen in landelijke registratiesystemen, enquetes in de bevolking en onderzoek onder huisartsen; een literatuuroverzicht

Object. Comparison of (cumulative) incidences of traumatic events from population surveys and registration systems as well as from studies in general practice. Design. Literature study. Method. Literature searches were done about the frequencies of accidents, sudden death, physical and sexual abuse listed in electronic databases and relevant catalogues covering 1986- 1998, after which more references were searched via the references found, going back to 1984. Results. There were large discrepancies between frequencies found in the several studies, such as national registration systems (n = 4), surveys in the open population (n = 10) and studies in general practice (n = 4). The incidence (per 1000 persons per year) of physical abuse were 66, 2.7 and 1-3 for surveys in the open population, police and general practitioners' registration systems respectively. For sexual abuse the figures were 21, 0.025 and 0.2-2.9 respectively. Different definitions and methods were used in the studies. Conclusion. General practitioners are aware of only a fraction of what their patients experience.