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Citation |
Dichter ME, Rhodes KV. Acad. Emerg. Med. 2008; 16(1): 83-86. |
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Affiliation |
From the School of Social Policy and Practice, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA. |
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Copyright |
(Copyright © 2008, Society for Academic Emergency Medicine, Publisher John Wiley and Sons) |
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DOI |
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PMID |
19007347 |
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Abstract |
Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the utility of asking female emergency department (ED) patients about police calls for service as a possible indicator of intimate partner violence (IPV). Methods: Trained research assistants screened female, adult, English-speaking patients presenting to an urban university ED 7am to midnight, 7 days per week during the 2006-2007 academic year. Patients were asked two commonly used IPV screening questions regarding past-year experience with physical violence or threat by an intimate partner and whether or not the police had been called due to a fight between themselves and a male partner. Results: Of the 4,984 patients screened, 3.9% screened positive for an IPV-related police call in the past 12 months; more than one-third (37.8%) of those screened negative for IPV on the traditional screening questions. The question about an IPV-related police call for service identified an additional 74 cases of possible IPV, representing 1.5% of the overall sample or a 30.8% increase over those identified with the traditional IPV screening questions. Conclusions: Adding an additional question regarding police calls to standard IPV screening could alert healthcare providers to possible IPV risk. Language: en |