Development of a screen for ongoing intimate partner violence.

Area of Science:

• Medical Research
• Public Health
• Sociology

Background:

• Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a significant public health issue.
• Accurate screening tools are crucial for identifying victims in healthcare settings.
• Existing tools like the Abuse Assessment Screen (AAS) may have limitations in detecting ongoing IPV.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the accuracy of the Ongoing Abuse Screen (OAS) in identifying intimate partner violence.
• To compare the OAS with the Abuse Assessment Screen (AAS) against the Index of Spouse Abuse (ISA).
• To develop an improved screening tool if current methods are insufficient.

Main Methods:

• A survey including the Index of Spouse Abuse (ISA), Ongoing Abuse Screen (OAS), and Abuse Assessment Screen (AAS) was administered.
• 856 emergency department patients completed the survey during peak hours.
• Statistical comparisons were made between the OAS, AAS, and ISA.

Main Results:

• The OAS demonstrated higher accuracy (84%) compared to the AAS (59%) when validated against the ISA.
• The OAS had a better positive predictive value (58% vs. 33%) and a higher positive likelihood ratio (6.0 vs. 2.0).
• The OAS was three times more effective than the AAS in detecting ongoing intimate partner violence.

Conclusions:

• The OAS is a more accurate screening tool for ongoing intimate partner violence than the AAS.
• Despite improvements, the OAS's accuracy was deemed insufficient.
• A new screening tool, the Ongoing Violence Assessment Tool (OVAT), was developed based on the ISA for enhanced detection.