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Article: A comparison of intimate partner violence and associated physical injuries between cohabitating and married women: A 5-year medical chart review

TitleA comparison of intimate partner violence and associated physical injuries between cohabitating and married women: A 5-year medical chart review
Authors
KeywordsInjury
Intimate partner violence
Women
Physical violence
Cohabitation
Issue Date2016
PublisherBioMed Central Ltd. The Journal's web site is located at http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcpublichealth/
Citation
BMC Public Health, 2016, v. 16, n. 1 How to Cite?
Abstract© 2016 The Author(s). Background: Cohabitation, referring to a co-residential romantic relationship between two intimate partners without a marriage license, has become widely accepted in contemporary societies. It has been found that cohabitating women have a higher risk of experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) than married women. However, as yet, no studies have investigated the level and pattern of IPV-associated physical injuries and its mental health impact on cohabitating women. Therefore, we aim to compare IPV-associated physical injuries between cohabitating and married women by conducting a review of 5-year medical records from the emer gency departments of two major public hospitals in Hong Kong. Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study. Using two computerized systems, we identified the medical charts of 1011 women who had experienced IPV and presented at emergency departments between 2010 and 2014, of which, 132 were cohabitating and 833 were married. Results: Cohabitating women were significantly younger (p-value < .0001) and had obtained a higher educational level (p-value =.008) than married women. After adjusting for those two variables, the logistic regression models showed that cohabitating women were approximately 2.1 times more likely than married women to present with head, neck, or facial injuries (OR = 2.1, 95% CI = 1.30-3.40, p =.002), and the risk of having multiple injuries in different locations (head, neck, face, torso, limbs) was almost twice that for cohabitating women compared with married women (OR = 1.82, 95% CI = 1.25-2.65, p =.001). Furthermore, cohabitating women were almost two times as likely as married women to experience more than one method of physical violence (OR = 1.72, 95% CI = 1.18-2.51, p =.005). There were no significant differences regarding mental health, police reporting, and discharge plans. Conclusions: Owing to recent social changes to the family structure, including the growing acceptance of cohabitation, it is essential that a screening program for IPV is established for cohabitating women, as well as the inclusion of IPV content in medical and nursing curriculums and in-service training.
Persistent Identifierhttp://hdl.handle.net/10722/249134
ISSN
2023 Impact Factor: 3.5
2023 SCImago Journal Rankings: 1.253
ISI Accession Number ID

 

DC FieldValueLanguage
dc.contributor.authorWong, Janet Yuen Ha-
dc.contributor.authorChoi, Anna Wai Man-
dc.contributor.authorFong, Daniel Yee Tak-
dc.contributor.authorChoi, Edmond Pui Hang-
dc.contributor.authorWong, John Kit Shing-
dc.contributor.authorSo, Fung Ling-
dc.contributor.authorLau, Chu Leung-
dc.contributor.authorKam, Chak Wah-
dc.date.accessioned2017-10-27T05:59:12Z-
dc.date.available2017-10-27T05:59:12Z-
dc.date.issued2016-
dc.identifier.citationBMC Public Health, 2016, v. 16, n. 1-
dc.identifier.issn1471-2458-
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10722/249134-
dc.description.abstract© 2016 The Author(s). Background: Cohabitation, referring to a co-residential romantic relationship between two intimate partners without a marriage license, has become widely accepted in contemporary societies. It has been found that cohabitating women have a higher risk of experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) than married women. However, as yet, no studies have investigated the level and pattern of IPV-associated physical injuries and its mental health impact on cohabitating women. Therefore, we aim to compare IPV-associated physical injuries between cohabitating and married women by conducting a review of 5-year medical records from the emer gency departments of two major public hospitals in Hong Kong. Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study. Using two computerized systems, we identified the medical charts of 1011 women who had experienced IPV and presented at emergency departments between 2010 and 2014, of which, 132 were cohabitating and 833 were married. Results: Cohabitating women were significantly younger (p-value < .0001) and had obtained a higher educational level (p-value =.008) than married women. After adjusting for those two variables, the logistic regression models showed that cohabitating women were approximately 2.1 times more likely than married women to present with head, neck, or facial injuries (OR = 2.1, 95% CI = 1.30-3.40, p =.002), and the risk of having multiple injuries in different locations (head, neck, face, torso, limbs) was almost twice that for cohabitating women compared with married women (OR = 1.82, 95% CI = 1.25-2.65, p =.001). Furthermore, cohabitating women were almost two times as likely as married women to experience more than one method of physical violence (OR = 1.72, 95% CI = 1.18-2.51, p =.005). There were no significant differences regarding mental health, police reporting, and discharge plans. Conclusions: Owing to recent social changes to the family structure, including the growing acceptance of cohabitation, it is essential that a screening program for IPV is established for cohabitating women, as well as the inclusion of IPV content in medical and nursing curriculums and in-service training.-
dc.languageeng-
dc.publisherBioMed Central Ltd. The Journal's web site is located at http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcpublichealth/-
dc.relation.ispartofBMC Public Health-
dc.rightsThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.-
dc.subjectInjury-
dc.subjectIntimate partner violence-
dc.subjectWomen-
dc.subjectPhysical violence-
dc.subjectCohabitation-
dc.titleA comparison of intimate partner violence and associated physical injuries between cohabitating and married women: A 5-year medical chart review-
dc.typeArticle-
dc.description.naturepublished_or_final_version-
dc.identifier.doi10.1186/s12889-016-3879-y-
dc.identifier.pmid27899112-
dc.identifier.scopuseid_2-s2.0-84999098105-
dc.identifier.hkuros270998-
dc.identifier.volume16-
dc.identifier.issue1-
dc.identifier.spagenull-
dc.identifier.epagenull-
dc.identifier.isiWOS:000389387900007-
dc.identifier.issnl1471-2458-

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