Medical Student Research Forum Posters

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused Americans to adjust to a new normal of quarantines, remote learning, and working from home. With nearly 45 million cases and 719,000 deaths since January 2020, the direct effects of the virus are more commonly known. Previous research has showed a positive correlation between societal and economic stressors and intimate partner violence. Related research has also found that rates of domestic violence increased significantly after environmental disasters. Recent articles have shown a significant increase in National Domestic Violence Hotline calls, as well as increases in selfreported intimate partner violence on surveys during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many have hypothesized that the societal and economic pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic would result in secondary effects that are less researched such as crime, interpersonal violence, and domestic violence. This study aims to investigate the incidence of violent injury encounters at the Community Regional Medical Center (CRMC) emergency department. We hypothesize there has been an increase in the rate of violent injury encounters in the emergency department during the pandemic in comparison to prior years.