TY - JOUR
T1 - Battered women
T2 - Injury locations and types
AU - Muelleman, R. L.
AU - Lenaghan, P. A.
AU - Pakieser, R. A.
N1 - Funding Information:
Supported in part by grants from the Nebraska Methodist Hospital Foundation and the Omaha Community Foundation, Omaha Women's Fund.
PY - 1996
Y1 - 1996
N2 - Study objective: To characterize injuries to battered women by comparing their location, type, and severity with those of injuries to women resulting from other mechanisms. Methods: Cross-sectional study of 9,057 women between the ages of 19 and 65 years who presented for any reason to the emergency departments of 10 hospitals serving inner-city, urban, and suburban populations. Results: A total of 280 injured, battered women were identified during the study period. About 3.1% (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.7% to 3.5%) of all women seen in the ED, and 11.2% (95% CI, 10,0% to 12.4%) of injured women with known mechanisms of injury, were determined to be positive for battering. Battered women were more likely to be injured in the head, face, neck, thorax, and abdomen (P<.001) than were women injured by other mechanisms. Twelve specific injury types were identified that occurred more frequently in battered women. Conclusion: Although battered women experience certain injury types more frequently than women injured by other mechanisms, the low positive predictive value of these injuries supports the use of universal screening for domestic violence in all injured women.
AB - Study objective: To characterize injuries to battered women by comparing their location, type, and severity with those of injuries to women resulting from other mechanisms. Methods: Cross-sectional study of 9,057 women between the ages of 19 and 65 years who presented for any reason to the emergency departments of 10 hospitals serving inner-city, urban, and suburban populations. Results: A total of 280 injured, battered women were identified during the study period. About 3.1% (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.7% to 3.5%) of all women seen in the ED, and 11.2% (95% CI, 10,0% to 12.4%) of injured women with known mechanisms of injury, were determined to be positive for battering. Battered women were more likely to be injured in the head, face, neck, thorax, and abdomen (P<.001) than were women injured by other mechanisms. Twelve specific injury types were identified that occurred more frequently in battered women. Conclusion: Although battered women experience certain injury types more frequently than women injured by other mechanisms, the low positive predictive value of these injuries supports the use of universal screening for domestic violence in all injured women.
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U2 - 10.1016/S0196-0644(96)70110-5
DO - 10.1016/S0196-0644(96)70110-5
M3 - Article
C2 - 8909268
AN - SCOPUS:0029861339
SN - 0196-0644
VL - 28
SP - 486
EP - 492
JO - Annals of emergency medicine
JF - Annals of emergency medicine
IS - 5
ER -