Gender Differences in the Predictive Validity of a Violence Risk Screening Tool: A Prospective Study in an Acute Psychiatric Ward

ABSTRACT

In this one-year prospective, naturalistic study in an acute psychiatric facility, we explored gender differences between 230 men and 284 women regarding the predictive validity of the Violence risk screening-10 (V-RISK-10). Hospital staff recorded violent incidents during hospital stays (range 1–176 days; median: 5.5 days) resulting in 50 men (22%) and 30 women (11%) being recorded for violence. The predictive validity was significant for both genders, with ROC-AUCs of .79 for males and .80 for females. Scoring at cut-off or beyond indicated a two-fold increased risk of becoming violent for men and a three-fold risk for women. A lower score indicated a five-fold decrease in risk for both genders. Estimates of explained variance for the prediction model were higher for men. Findings indicate gender differences for risk factors of violence and highlight the need of further research on this issue.

KEYWORDS:

• Gender
• V-RISK-10
• acute psychiatric ward
• risk assessment
• violence

Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the participation of the nursing staff, physicians, psychologists, and administrative employees at the Acute Psychiatric Ward at Oslo University Hospital, Ullevål. We especially thank coordinator Kate Storm for her valuable support and help in the collection and administration of the data recordings, and PhD student Øyvind Lockertsen for his valuable contribution to the project. We also acknowledge the support we received for the project from the head of the ward, Thorbjørn Harald Sundin, and from the head of the Division of Mental Health and Addiction and former head of the ward, Marit Bjartveit.