Type:	Journal Article
Title:	Intimate partner violence identification and response: time for a change in strategy
Other Titles:	Journal of general internal medicine
Authors:	Cerulli, Catherine Wiley, James Rhodes, Karin V Kothari, Catherine L Dichter, Melissa
Keywords:	Measurement;Screening
Year:	2011
Publisher:	Springer Publishing
Citation:	26 (8), August 2011
Notes:	BACKGROUND: While victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) present to health care settings for a variety of complaints; rates and predictors of case identification and intervention are unknown. MAIN MEASURES: We linked police, prosecutor, and medical record data to examine characteristics of ED identification and response from 1999–2002; bivariate analyses and logistic regression analyses accounted for the nesting of subjects’ with multiple visits. RESULTS: IPV victims (N = 993) generated 3,426 IPV-related police incidents (mean 3.61, median 3, range 1–17) over the 4-year study period; 785 (79%) generated 4,306 ED visits (mean 7.17, median 5, range 1–87), which occurred after the date of a documented IPV assault. Only 384 (9%) ED visits occurred within a week of a police-reported IPV incident. IPV identification in the ED was associated with higher violence severity, being childless and underinsured, more police incidents (mean: 4.2 vs 3.3), and more ED visits (mean: 10.6 vs 5.5) over the 4 years. The majority of ED visits occurring after a documented IPV incident were for medical complaints (3,378, 78.4%), and 72% of this cohort were never identified as victims of abuse. IPV identification was associated with the day of a police incident, transportation by police, self-disclosure of “domestic assault,” and chart documentation of mental health and substance abuse issues. When IPV was identified, ED staff provided legally useful documentation (86%), police contact (50%), and social worker involvement (45%), but only assessed safety in 33% of the women and referred them to victim services 25% of the time. CONCLUSION: The majority of police-identified IPV victims frequently use the ED for health care, but are unlikely to be identified or receive any intervention in that setting. [? Springer Publications. All rights reserved. For further information, visit Journal of General Internal Medicine]
URI:	https://anrows.intersearch.com.au/anrowsjspui/handle/1/15432
ISSN:	8848734
Appears in Collections:	Journal Articles

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