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

Abstract #113398

Melissa C. Roche, MA, Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 303 A Laurel Ave., Carrboro, NC 27510, 919-619-1228, mcroche@email.unc.edu, Kathryn E. (Beth) Moracco, PhD, MPH, Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, 1516 East Franklin St., Suite 200, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, Kimberly S. Dixon, MSW, Durham Crisis Response Center, 206 N. Dillard St., Durham, NC 27701, and Elizabeth A. Stern, MPH, Durham Regional Hospital, 3643 North Roxboro Road, Durham, NC 27704.

As part of a larger study to evaluate the impact of an intimate partner violence (IPV) screening protocol, 246 female patients completed self-administered questionnaires during randomly selected times in an urban emergency department. Lifetime experience with IPV was assessed with three questions: whether the patient had ever been afraid of a partner; whether she had ever been physically hurt or threatened by a partner; and whether she had ever been forced to have sex by a partner. 30.1% of all female patients reported that they had experienced some form of IPV in their lifetimes. In bivariate analysis, race was not associated with IPV except forced sex, with white women being more likely to report forced sex, compared with African American women (20.7% vs. 11.0%, p<.05). Education of respondent was not significantly associated with experiencing IPV. Marital status was significantly associated with IPV (p<.05); Experiencing any form of IPV was reported by 60.7% of separated women and 54.8% of divorced women, compared to 26.6% of single women and 25% of married women. Reporting IPV was significantly associated with a low self-rating of physical health; a low self-rating of mental health; more frequent visits to the ED; a history of problems with alcohol; a history of problems with drugs; and a history of mental health problems. Women who reported IPV were no more likely to come to the ED due to an injury than women who did not report IPV, emphasizing the importance of screening all women for a history of IPV.

Learning Objectives:

• • To describe the factors associated with IPV among ED patients in an urban hospital
• • To discuss the implications for universal screening for IPV in an ED setting

Keywords: 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.