HOME HELP CONTACT US FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS CURRENT ISSUE PAST ISSUES SEARCH		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Résumé Full Text Full Text (PDF) Rapid Responses: Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when Rapid Responses are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Ahmad, F. Articles by Levinson, W. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Ahmad, F. Articles by Levinson, W. Related Collections Résumés de recherche

Violence involving intimate partners

Prevalence in Canadian family practice

Sheilah Hogg-Johnson, PhD
Researcher at the Institute of Work and Health

Donna E. Stewart, MD FRCPC
Researcher at the University Health Network Women’s Health Program

Wendy Levinson, MD FRCPC
Researcher in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto in Ontario

Correspondence to: Dr F. Ahmad, Centre for Research on Inner City Health at 70 Richmond, St Michael’s Hospital, 30 Bond St, Toronto, ON M5B 1W8

OBJECTIVE To investigate the prevalence of violence involving intimate partners among women visiting Canadian family practices and to assess participants’ attitudes toward future use of computer-assisted screening for violence and other health risks.

DESIGN Self-report via written survey.

SETTING Group family practice clinic in inner-city Toronto, Ont.

PARTICIPANTS Women patients at least 18 years old who were fluent in English.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Responses to questions about violence selected from the Abuse Assessment Screen and the Partner Violence Screen. Participants’ attitudes toward computer-assisted screening as measured by the Computerized Lifestyle Assessment Scale (1 to 5) in the domains of benefits, privacy—barriers, interaction—barriers, and interest.

RESULTS Responses were received from 202 patients, 144 of whom were in current or recent relationships and completed the section on intimate-partner violence (IPV). The overall prevalence of IPV in current or recent relationships was 14.6%. Emotional abuse was reported by 10.4%, threat of violence by 8.3%, and physical or sexual violence by 7.6% of respondents. Emotional abuse was significantly associated with threat of violence and physical or sexual violence (P.001). Analysis of responses to questions on computerized screening revealed that participants generally perceived it would have benefits (mean score 3.6) and were very interested in it (mean score 4.3). Those who reported experiencing IPV rated the benefits of computerized screening significantly higher than respondents without IPV experiences did (t2.3, df142, P < .05). Participants were "not sure" about barriers (mean score 3.0). Responses were similar in the 2 groups for the domains of interest, privacy—barriers, and interaction—barriers.

CONCLUSION The high rate of IPV reported by women attending family practices calls for physicians to be vigilant. Future research should examine ways to facilitate physicians’ inquiry into IPV. The positive attitudes of our participants toward interactive computer-assisted screening indicates a need for more research in this area.