Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #104880

Nannette F. Van Dyke, PhD, PCNP and Gale A. Spencer, RN, PhD. Decker School of Nursing, Binghamton University, PO Box 6000, 4400 Vestal Parkway East, Binghamton, NY 13902, 304-782-3374, nvandyke@binghamton.edu

Domestic violence has been identified as a pervasive public health issue. In addition to the physical injuries sustained by women during abusive episodes, the physical and psychological effects of the abuse are related to a number of long term adverse health problems. Battered women seek help daily for trauma, medical and psychological problems in primary care settings. Despite this, only a small proportion of abused women are identified by health care professionals. Often health care providers' treat the victim's injuries or illnesses without addressing or responding to the underlying violence that causes or contributes to them. The purpose of this presentation is to identify the similarities and differences that rural, suburban and urban women face when seeking help from primary health care providers. Using a secondary data base generated by the Commonwealth Fund, answers to the following questions will be discussed: 1) Are there differences in reporting domestic violence status among women in rural, urban, and suburban areas? 2) Do women in rural areas wait longer periods of time to seek medical care for domestic violence injuries as compared to women in urban or suburban areas? 3) Are there differences in domestic violence screening behaviors among rural, suburban and urban Health Care Providers? 4) Is there an association between the women's perception of the Health Care Providers attitude concerning domestic violence and the Health Care Provider's screening behaviors for domestic violence?

Learning Objectives: Learning Objectives

The Learner will be able to
• Describe the similarities and differences in the rates of reporting domestic violence for rural women as compared to urban or suburban women.
• Describe the similarities and differences domestic violence of the length of time to seek medical care for domestic violence injuries among rural, suburban and urban women.
• Describe the similarities and differences in screening behaviors among Health Care providers in rural, suburban and urban settings.

Keywords: Domestic Violence,

Presenting author's disclosure statement:


I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Student Poster Session

The 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition (December 10-14, 2005) of APHA