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

Abstract #110899

Tameka Gillum, PhD¹, Allison Garraway, MA², Jeanne McCauley, MD, MPH³, Jacquelyn Campbell, PhD, RN, FAAN¹, Dan Ford, MD, MPH⁴, and Louise-Anne McNutt, PhD⁵. (1) School of Nursing, Johns Hopkins University, Anne M. Pinkard Building, 525 N. Wolfe Street/Room 306, Baltimore, MD 21205-2110, (2) Johns Hopkins Community Physicians, East Baltimore Medical Center, Baltimore, MD 21211-2895, (3) Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, 3100 Wyman Park Drive, Baltimore, MD 21211, (4) School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, 2024 E. Monument Street, Suite 2-500, Baltimore, MD 21205, (5) Department of Epidemiology, University at Albany, School of Public Health, One University Place, Rensselaer, NY 12144, (518) 402-0403, LAM08@health.state.ny.us

Objective: To identify the types of services women identified through routine intimate partner violence (IPV) screening in a primary care center might utilize.

Methods: Women, ages 18 to 44 years, seen at a community health center between July and October, 2003 were enrolled in the study. Women completed one of three IPV screening protocols and all women completed the Composite Abuse Scale (CAS), a 31-item questionnaire that covers emotional, physical, and sexual abuse and harassment. Based on one of the screening programs (n=74) and the CAS (n=211), women were categorized as not abused, low to moderate level of abuse, and severe abuse. A list of 11 types of services was provided.

Results:. Of 211 women who reported having a partner in the past three months, approximately two-thirds were African-American and 22% Latina. 15.6% reported severe and 20.9% reported low to moderate levels of IPV. 31% of IPV victims reported thinking about seeking at least one service in the next 30 days. Services most considered include counseling, medication, support groups and safety planning. Also, about 10% of women planned to discuss abuse with a friend or family member. Only 3 (4%) women reported plans to discuss IPV with their physician/provider. Seeking legal advice, going to a domestic violence shelter and moving were also rarely considered for immediate action.

Conclusions: Routine IPV screening likely will result in helping contemplators take action. This study suggests that over a quarter of IPV victims identified may benefit from screening and assistance with linking to services.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of the presentation, participants will be able to (
• understand the proportion of IPV victims identified through intimate partner violence screening in primary care that are contemplators and potentially ready for action; and (
• understand the types of services that abused women identified through routine screening may consider.

Keywords: Violence, Health Care Advocates

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.