Objective: To estimate the incidence of interpersonal violence presentations to general practitioners (GPs).
Methods: A postal survey of all GPs in Western Australia (WA) was conducted in 2009 using a structured questionnaire.
Results: Among the n=476 respondents (response rate 28%), 379 GPs treated 9572 patients for a violent incident during the past year. The rate of violent presentations in rural WA was double that of metropolitan areas (incident rate ratio (IRR) 1.9, 95% CI 1.8-2.0), whereas the rate of violent episodes in remote GP practices was 7-fold higher (IRR 7.2, 95% CI 6.8-7.6). Halls Creek in remote northern WA was found to be a 'hot spot' with a high cluster of violence cases, whereas metropolitan suburbs surrounding Perth had relatively low concentrations of violence presentations.
Conclusions: Further understanding of the size and nature of the problem is required in view of the low response rate. High-risk groups, such as women and those living in rural and remote areas, should be targeted for special attention.