Orofacial injuries in pregnant women victims of domestic violence: a cross-sectional study at a forensic medicine service in Southern Brazil, 2015-2023.

OBJECTIVES

To describe the prevalence and investigate whether demographic and circumstantial factors might be associated with the presence of orofacial injuries in cases of family violence against pregnant women examined at the Pelotas Forensic Medicine Service.

METHODS

This was a cross-sectional study, developed based on the analysis of expert witness examination reports in cases of family violence against pregnant women between 2015 and 2023. Presence of orofacial injuries was taken as the outcome variable. Predictor variables related to the demographic characteristics of the victims and the violent episodes described in the reports were collected. Descriptive and bivariate association analyses were conducted considering a 5% significance level.

RESULTS

A total of 103 reports were included in this study. Most of the reports were recorded between 2016 and 2018 (61.1%). Following expert witness examination, 77.7% of the investigations were conducted by the Police Station for Women. Regarding age, 29.1% of the victims were between 19 and 25 years old. The perpetrator was named in 30.1% of the reports. Orofacial injuries were found in 46.6% of the victims, being the second most frequent type after injuries to the upper limbs (59.2%). The upper third of the face was affected in 62.5% of the cases, with injuries predominantly to extra-oral soft tissues. No associations were found between the predictor variables analyzed and the presence of injuries.

CONCLUSION

High prevalence of orofacial injuries was found among pregnant women victims of domestic violence examined at the Pelotas Forensic Medicine Service, with no associations found with the predictor variables analyzed.