Hidden Costs in Health Care: The Economic Impact of Violence and Abuse

Violence and abuse occur in all age groups, at all socioeconomic levels, and throughout all of society's structure. This paper reviews a sampling of the literature that supports the contention that violence and abuse lead to a significant increase in health care utilization and costs. Includes a graph that illustrates the conditions and health risk behaviors that are known or suspected to have a correlation with lifetime exposure to abuse.