Intimate Partner Violence and Disabilities among Women Attending Family Practice Clinics
- UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Paige Hall Smith, Professor (Creator)
- Institution
- The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
- Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Abstract: Purpose: To estimate the frequency and type of disabilities preventing work among those experiencing
intimate partner violence (IPV) compared with those never experiencing IPV.
Methods: We used a large cross-sectional survey of women, ages 18–65, attending family
practice clinics from 1997 through 1998. Participation included a 5–10-minute in-clinic survey
assessing IPV experience and a longer telephone survey assessing health status and chronic
disabilities that prevented work outside the home or housework.
Results: Of 1,152 eligible women surveyed, 54% experienced some type of IPV, and 24%
were currently in a violent relationship. Women who had ever experienced IPV were more
than twice as likely to report a disability (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 2.2, 95% confidence interval
[CI] 1.6, 3.0). The most commonly reported disabilities were those associated with heart
or circulatory disease (4.9%), followed by back problems (3.5%), chronic pain (3.4%), arthritis
(3.0%), nerve system damage (2.4%), asthma or another respiratory problem including emphysema
(1.7%), and either depression (1.6%) or another mental illness (1.0%). Women ever
experiencing IPV were more likely to report a disability due to generalized chronic pain
(aOR 2.5, 95% CI 1.5, 4.3) and mental illness (aOR 4.5, 95% CI 1.5, 13.1). IPV-related injuries
were associated in a dose-dependent manner with having any disability and with disability
from chronic pain, asthma and other respiratory diseases, mental illness, and chronic
diseases.
Conclusions: Primary care-based efforts to screen for IPV and effectively intervene to reduce
the impact of IPV on women’s lives must be a public health priority to reduce the shortterm
and long-term health effects, including disabilities.
Intimate Partner Violence and Disabilities among Women Attending Family Practice Clinics
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Created on 10/4/2012
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Additional Information
- Publication
- Language: English
- Date: 2005
- Keywords
- psychology, disabilities, family practice clinics, women's health, intimate partner violence, public health