Computer screening may increase the odds that a woman at risk for domestic violence will talk to a health care professional in the emergency department about the topic but does not guarantee that domestic violence would be addressed, according to an article in the May 22 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Reluctance to raise sensitive issues prevents many physicians from identifying victims of domestic violence in health care settings, according to background information in the article. The emergency department (ED), where patients who have experienced domestic violence often seek care, presents additional challenges, including time pressures and urgent medical needs. Previous studies have shown that patients are more likely to disclose sensitive information, including experiences with domestic violence, on computer-based screenings than on paper surveys or in personal interviews.

Karin V. Rhodes, M.D., then at the University of Chicago and now at University of Pennsylvania Hospital, Philadelphia, and colleagues tested a computer screening program in two emergency departments, one urban and one suburban. A total of 903 women who visited the emergency department between June 2001 and December 2002 participated in the study and were randomly selected to either complete the computer-based risk assessment or receive usual care. The computer program asked questions about a variety of health risks, including eight that addressed domestic violence; if a woman responded positively to any of the eight questions, an alert advising the physician to assess her for domestic violence appeared on a printout that was then stapled to the patient's chart. Participants were audiotaped during their interactions with physicians and completed an exit questionnaire, which contained the same questions about domestic violence as the computer screening, before leaving the ED. Researchers reviewed the tapes to determine if domestic
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Contact: Rick Cushman
215-349-5659
JAMA and Archives Journals
22-May-2006

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