Study: Women are at greater risk of death from knife stabbings

The study, which was conducted by physicians from the Surgery Division at Hillel Yaffe Medical Center in conjunction with the Israel National Trauma Registry of the Gertner Institute. Reviewed and analyzed data received from all of the various trauma centers in Israel, including Hillel Yaffe. The study included all stabbing incidents from 1997 through 2016 in which the victims were hospitalized. Of the 9,173 incidents collected, 8,745 cases were stabbings of men and 8,745 of women.

During the study, in which stab wounds from knives in men and women were examined to improve the method of treatment required when necessary, the researchers found that the mortality rate among women who were stabbed was four times higher than in men, and that 95% of the women were stabbed in their homes, as opposed to over 90% of men, who were stabbed in public places. Prof. Boris Kessel, Director of the Surgery Division at Hillel Yaffe Medical Center, who managed the study said, “Over the years, we have seen that the wounds in women are more serious, and we, therefore, need to reexamine the type of treatment required.”

“The purpose of the study was to examine what the most frequent wounds from knife stabbings are, both in women and men, as well as their degree of severity, and based on the results, to examine whether the standard treatment does, in fact, match the injury,” stated Prof. Boris Kessel. Director of the Surgery Division at Hillel Yaffe. “In the study, we focused on injuries in women, and our hypothesis was that their wounds had become more severe than the men's, even becoming truly life threatening, and therefore, we need to be properly prepared, including for surgical intervention. To verify the clinical observation, we conducted a comprehensive comparative study among men and women regarding knife wounds, which included the type of wounds, their severity, where they were perpetrated and the type of treatment required,” added Prof. Kessel.

Violence is growing, and women are paying the price

Despite the fact that the study was primarily intended to examine whether the medical preparedness to treat knife wounds in men and women is correct and whether different treatment is called for in the two sexes, the results obtained by the researchers were even somewhat surprising to them: the severity of the knife wounds from stabbings among women was higher and far more fatal than in stab wounds sustained by men. The stab wounds in women were more complex in all respects. They needed more days of hospitalization, more surgeries and more time in intensive care. The study further found that 4% of the stabbings of women ended in death, while among men the mortality rate was 1%.

Another difference found relates to geography - where the stabbing occurred. Approximately 95% of the stabbings of women occurred at home, an environment which is supposed to be protected and safe. In contrast, over 90% of the stabbing incidents in men occurred in public places. It was further found that wounds to the hands among men were twice as high in men than in women, which indicates women’s inability to defend themselves against their attacker.

And the conclusions?

Knife wounds in women harm more essential systems of the body than in men. The percentage of wounds defined as life threatening are higher and, therefore, in clinical terms, the current therapeutic approaches need to be reexamined. “Doctors must be much more vigilant as to how this type of wound is treated, given their deteriorating and severe nature. Also in social terms, we cannot ignore the disturbing results of the study, which clearly prove that stab wounds in women are not done to scare or threaten them, but are intended to kill them. I believe this is a very scary conclusion, which says something about the society we live in, and we need to find an appropriate solution and root it out to the extent possible,” said Prof. Kessel.