OBJECTIVE: To determine the profile of violence suffered by elderly assisted at the emergency department. METHODOLOGY: Epidemiological, descriptive, quantitative cross-sectional study. Were analyzed all medical records of care provided in General Surgery, Orthopedics and Internal Medicine in adult emergency between January 1st and December 31, 2007, provided by the Service Medical Records, totaling 72,232 records. RESULTS: There were 79 cases of violence against elderly, of which 63.3% were male. The predominant age group was between 60-70 years old (72.2%). In 81.1% of the medical charts there was no records of employment. Regarding residence of the victim, the majority (46.8%) lived in Recife city, Pernambuco state, Brazil. About data of the offender, when it was quoted (3.7%), all of them were males, reported being the relationship with the victim in a unique case (child). The most frequently found violence was physical (97.5%). The most common injury was contusion (27.8%). The sites of injury most affected were face (35.4%), head (31.6%) and extremities (22.8%). In relation to the instruments, blunt was used in 29.1%, followed by piercing-cutting (19%). January had the highest number of attendances (21.6%). Violence occurred mainly on Fridays (16.1%), Saturdays (17.7%) and Sundays (17.7%). CONCLUSION: The elderly victim of violence is primarily male, ranging 60-70 years of age. The most frequent type of violence is physical, especially in face or skull injury, occurring over the weekend.
Assault; Old; Violence; Emergency hospital; Recife, PE
