Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on March 21, 2013
A new Penn State University study finds that many health care providers are failing when it comes to?dealing with intimate partner violence in female patients.
Researchers found that only 20 percent of central Pennsylvania women who experienced intimate partner violence were asked or counseled by a health care provider about abuse.
Moreover, approximately only one in nine women has received preventive counseling about violence and safety.
?Our research shows that we (as a health care community) haven?t been doing a good job of identifying and counseling about intimate partner violence,? said Jennifer S. McCall-Hosenfeld, M.D., a primary care physician.
?Only 20 percent of the women who been exposed to intimate partner violence received safety and violence counseling in the two years following the abuse, and only 11 percent of all women had discussed violence and safety at home with a health care provider.?
McCall-Hosenfeld and colleagues examined preventive health care services for women of reproductive age and how exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) was associated with relevant preventive healthcare services.
The study focused on women who had reported experiencing IPV ? specifically physical violence, sexual violence and threats of either by a current or former partner or spouse.
More than one-third of women in the U.S. have experienced IPV, according to the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The researchers point out that this abuse can lead to serious immediate and long-term health problems, as a result of inadequate preventive health care services.
Between 2004 and 2007, McCall-Hosenfeld and colleagues surveyed 1,420 women of reproductive age who were participating in the Central Pennsylvania Women?s Health Study.
The women responded to questions regarding intimate partner violence, health care access, socio-economic status and whether they had received preventive healthcare services.
The results of the study are published in the March/April issue of Women?s Health Issues.
In the first survey, the researchers established whether women had recently been exposed to IPV by asking them to respond ?yes? or ?no? to a series of questions.
Each question was preceded by, ?In the past 12 months, has a spouse, partner or boyfriend?? and completed with statements including ?Threatened to hit you or throw something at you?? and ?Pushed, grabbed, shoved or slapped you??
Two years after the first survey the researchers followed up with the women, asking about any preventive health care services and preventive counseling they had received over the past 24 months.
Again, the women surveyed were asked to respond ?yes? or ?no? to a series of questions, including ?Have you been tested for sexually transmitted infections or HIV?? and ?Has a doctor or health professional asked you or talked to you about concerns about safety or violence in your home??
Researchers believe the study findings represent ?a missed opportunity for health promotion among women exposed to IPV.?
?Our data suggest that many women who have been exposed to IPV are not being appropriately identified in health care settings and are not getting many of the health care services they need,? said McCall-Hosenfeld.
In January 2013, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force released a guideline recommending that clinicians screen all women of reproductive age for IPV and help provide intervention services when necessary.
?We have a long way to go for health care to be in compliance with this guideline,? said McCall-Hosenfeld. ?We?ll need to have a culture shift in many settings so that health care providers are comfortable with asking patients about IPV, patients are comfortable with being asked and the health care systems work to ensure that all patients get the services they need.?
Furthermore, additional studies are indicated to specifically address methods to improve preventive services for those who have experienced IPV, McCall-Hosenfeld said.
Source: Penn State
APA Reference
Nauert PhD, R. (2013). Partner Abuse Still Not on Radar of Health Care Providers. Psych Central. Retrieved on March 23, 2013, from http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/03/21/partner-abuse-still-not-on-radar-of-health-care-providers/52851.html
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