Risk Factors with Intimate Partner Violence among Women Seeking Emergency Care

Darcia Pratt-Eriksson,Elisabeth Dahlborg-Lyckhage,Ingegerd Bergbom

doi:10.4236/ojn.2017.71008

Abstract

Background: Identifying women at risk for violence caused by intimate partner violence is difficult in connection with visits at emergency department. Aims and objectives: The aim of this study was to explore and describe risk factors of IPV reported by women in connection with seeking emergency care, Design: This study is part of a larger study using an explorative and comparative design. Method: Based upon data from a questionnaire and some demographic data, 82 women who reported to have experienced intimate partner violence answered the Danger Assessment Scale. Results: The results showed that the violence escalated in frequency and severity when a weapon such as a knife or gun was used to harm the women. When the abuser used narcotics and threatened the woman with a weapon, the risk of being injured increased. The odds for being threatened to death when the abuser was reported to use narcotics and illegal drugs was about thirteen times higher compared to the case when the abuser was not using narcotics. Other life threatening factors were discovered such as the man’s capability of killing the woman. Conclusion: By using a questionnaire about the violence, healthcare personnel can identify women who are at risk of being severely injured or killed. By identifying these women, one can take action to provide for their safety. Relevance to Clinical Practice: Using the Danger Assessment instrument can facilitate health care personnel’s ability at emergency departments to identify women at risk for lethal violence.

Highlights

IntroductionMinimal research concerns risk factors in relation to Intimate Partner violence (IPV), the severity and occurrence of the violence among women seeking care at an emergency department
Of the women (Table 1) 18.3% (n = 15) stated that the abuser was violent outside the home and it was found that 19.5% (n = 16) of the men avoided being arrested by the police and 37.8% (n = 31) women revealed that their abuser was an alcoholic or had problem with alcohol
The Danger Assessment Scale (DAS) is a useful and helpful instrument to identify women exposed to violence and by investigating the relationships between risk factors identify at least some questions health care personnel would be recommended to ask

Summary

Introduction

Minimal research concerns risk factors in relation to IPV, the severity and occurrence of the violence among women seeking care at an emergency department. Campbell [5] stated that several risk factors have been associated with increased risk of homicides of women and men in violent relationships Another factor, which may be of importance, is the perpetrator’s mental health. Eighty per cent of the men who kill women in the context of an intimate partner relationship suffer from mental disorders such as depression and emotional problems. It is the violent persons that may suffer from mental disorder, the women’s health is negatively affected.

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Conclusion