Trauma Center Screening Practices and Services for Victims of Violence in Illinois

Elder abuse and neglect (EAN), intimate partner violence (IPV), and street-based community violence (SBCV) are significant public health problems which have been shown to be chronic, recurrent diseases, with previous victims being at increased risk for repeat injury and retaliation. With proper intervention and referral, however, many victims of violence are spared from re-victimization. We conducted a web-based survey to determine screening patterns and violence referral programs provided by Level I and II trauma centers (n=62) in the state of Illinois. Twenty-nine of the trauma centers contacted responded to our survey (48%), 11 of which were identified as Level I trauma centers. Most hospitals surveyed had screening policies in place (96% IPV, 52% SBCV, 81% EAN) and provided at minimum a social work consult for victims of violence (100% IPV, 82% SBCV, 96% EAN). Significantly fewer hospitals subsequently tracked violence cases (75% IPV [p<0.001], 29% SBCV [p=0.003], 65% EAN [p=0.046]) or had dedicated response teams trained specifically to help these patients (30% IPV [p<0.001], 9% SBCV [p<0.001], 17% EAN [p<0.001]). Hospital screening and tracking policies for SBCV patients were significantly less common than those for IPV patients (p<0.001 in each comparison). These results suggest immediate areas for improvement in the emergent care of victims of violence. Improved screening and referral services may help decrease recidivism and retaliation; and better tracking would help investigators assess the efficacy of violence prevention programs.