Researchers at Johns Hopkins School of Nursing and other institutions report that nearly 4 in 10 female emergency room patients have been victims of physical or emotional domestic abuse sometime in their lives, and 14 percent have been physically or sexually abused in the past year.
Results of their survey of 3,455 women age 18 and over who came for treatment to 11 community hospital emergency departments in California and Pennsylvania will be published in the August 5 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The women in the study were seen in the emergency department for care of various ailments not necessarily related to abuse. Thirty-eight percent of the population indicated they have been either emotionally or physically abused by an intimate partner during their lifetime, and one in every seven women reported being a victim of physical or sexual abuse in the past year.
"The prevalence of domestic violence is higher than most people think. We now estimate that between 700,000 and 1,100,000 women every year seek care at emergency departments for acute injuries incurred from abuse," says Jacquelyn Campbell, PhD, RN, professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing and principal investigator of the study. "That estimate does not include the significant numbers of additional women who seek care at emergency departments for indirect symptoms of abuse, such as emotional stress or chronic pain from previous injuries."
Significantly higher rates of abuse were found among women between the ages of 18 and 39 and women in low-income households. Campbell says the study also revealed that separation from a partner is an important risk factor for abuse. Women in the survey who have ended a relationship in the past year were seven times more likely to experience abuse from the estranged partner.
"This study suggests that we, as health care professionals, need to
identify abuse b
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Contact: Kate Pipkin
pipkin@son.jhmi.edu
(410)955-7552
Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions
5-Aug-1998