The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) notes that, "child abuse occurs in one third to three quarters of families that experience domestic violence". Identifying these women, and taking steps to intervene, may be one of the most effective ways to prevent child abuse.
Dr Richard Wahl and his colleagues asked all families who visited the University of Arizona Pediatric clinic over a two-year period to fill in a child safety questionnaire. This questionnaire explicitly asked parents questions about their experiences of domestic violence, such as "Have you ever been in a relationship with someone who has hit you, kicked you, slapped you, punched you or threatened to hurt you?"
A total of 7070 questionnaires were completed, and 138 people revealed that they were currently exposed to domestic violence. This is equivalent to two percent of those screened.
The researchers then compared the number of cases of domestic violence identified prior to the implementation of active screening, with those identified when the questionnaires were in use.
"Using the child safety questionnaire significantly increased the odds of detecting current domestic violence, with 73% of the cases identified being attributable to the use of the questionnaire," write the study's authors.
They continue: "An estimated 40+ cases per year of current domestic violence would probably have been missed in our clinic without active screening. With the implementation of active screening for domestic violence, those parents were assessed and referred to social service agencies while still in our clinic."
The researchers note that the initiation of active screening dramatically increased the need for clinical social services support. Once the staff at the clinic had begun to ask questions about domestic violence, they received requests for assistance on an almost daily basis.
"The pediatric clinics may be the ideal environment in which to screen for domestic violence," said the researchers. As the AAP notes, "abused women are often reluctant to seek care for their own injuries but usually continue seeking routine care for their children."
This press release is based on the following article:
Clinic-based screening for domestic violence: use of a child safety questionnaire
Richard A Wahl, Doris J Sisk, Thomas M Ball
BMC Medicine 2004, 2:25
To be published 30 June 2004
Upon publication this article will be freely available according to BMC Medicine's Open Access policy at: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7015/2/25
Please quote the journal in any stories that you write, and link to the article if you are writing for the web.
For further information about this study please contact the authors:
Doris Sisk, M.S.W., a social worker at the University of Arizona pediatric clinic, is available to discuss the implications of this study on society. She can be contacted by email at doris@peds.arizona.edu
Dr Richard A Wahl is a pediatrician, and is available to discuss the medical and social implications of the work. He can be contacted by email at rwahl@peds.arizona.edu
Both authors can be contacted at the University of Arizona in Tucson via the Medical Center's paging operator on 520-694-6000
Alternatively, or for more information about the journal or Open Access publishing, contact Gemma Bradley by phone on 44-207-631-9931 or by email at press@biomedcentral.com
BMC Medicine (http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcmed/) publishes original research articles, technical advances and study protocols in any area of medical science or clinical practice. To be appropriate for BMC Medicine, articles need to be of special importance and broad interest.
BMC Medicine is published by BioMed Central (http://www.biomedcentral.com), an independent online publishing house committed to providing Open Access to peer-reviewed biological and medical research. This commitment is based on the view that immediate free access to research and the ability to freely archive and reuse published information is essential to the rapid and efficient communication of science. BioMed Central currently publishes over 100 journals across biology and medicine. In addition to open-access original research, BioMed Central also publishes reviews, commentaries and other non-original-research content. Depending on the policies of the individual journal, this content may be open access or provided only to subscribers.
Journal
BMC Medicine