Identifying domestic violence: cross sectional study in primary care

Abstract

Objectives To measure the prevalence of domestic violence among women attending general practice; test the association between experience of domestic violence and demographic factors; evaluate the extent of recording of domestic violence in records held by general practices; and assess acceptability to women of screening for domestic violence by general practitioners or practice nurses. Design Self administered questionnaire survey. Review of medical records. Setting General practices in Hackney, London. Participants 1207 women ( > 15 years) attending selected practices. Main outcome measures Prevalence of domestic violence against women. Association between demographic factors and domestic violence reported in questionnaire. Comparison of recording of domestic violence in medical records with that reported in questionnaire. Attitudes of women towards being questioned about domestic violence by general practitioners or practice nurses. Results 425/1035 women (41%, 95% confidence interval 38% to 44%) had ever experienced physical violence from a partner or former partner and 160/949 (17%, 14% to 19%) had experienced it within the past year. Pregnancy in the past year was associated with an increased risk of current violence (adjusted odds ratio 2.11, 1.39 to 3.19). Physical violence was recorded in the medical records of 15/90 (17%) women who reported it on the questionnaire. At least 202/1010 (20%) women objected to screening for domestic violence. Conclusions With the high prevalence of domestic violence, health professionals should maintain a high level of awareness of the possibility of domestic violence, especially affecting pregnant women, but the case for screening is not yet convincing.

Exposure to violence among substance-dependent pregnant women and their children

“…Population-based surveys among women show that lifetime prevalence rates for physical assault, sexual abuse, and stalking by a current or former partner range from 25% and 41% and 1.8%, respectively, to 17% for the past 12 months (Richardson et al, 2002;Tjaden & Thoennes, 2000;Wilt & Olson, 1996).…”

Prevalence and associations of partner abuse in women attending general practice: a cross‐sectional survey

“…1 There are marked variations in published prevalence estimates of partner ab use in women attending general practitioners (GPs) in Australia and overseas. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7] Much of the variation depends on def initions used, which range from any episode of physical, sexual or emotional abuse by a current partner; to an isolated physically violent act by a partner or ex-par tner through to criminal assault in the home. 8 Only a small propor tion of abused women disclose partner ab use to GPs 4,7,9 and it remains under-identified.…”

Detección temprana de la violencia del compañero íntimo en el sector sanitario. ¿Una intervención basada en la evidencia?

“…Entre los 18 finalmente incluidos para el análisis, se recuperaron 5 revisiones sistemáticas 16-20 y 13 estudios originales [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33] . Tres de estos 13 originales ya se habían analizado en las revisiones sistemáticas recuperadas [21][22][23] .…”