Who is identified by screening for intimate partner violence?

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Women's Health
• Clinical Screening

Background:

• Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a widespread issue with severe health implications for women.
• Accurate identification of IPV in healthcare settings is vital for intervention and support services.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the agreement between the Woman Abuse Screening Tool (WAST) and the Composite Abuse Scale (CAS) for identifying IPV.
• To identify factors associated with discrepancies in IPV identification between the WAST and CAS.

Main Methods:

• A randomized controlled trial involving 5,607 women across 26 healthcare sites in Ontario, Canada.
• Women completed the 8-item WAST and the 30-item CAS (criterion standard) to assess past-year IPV exposure.
• Statistical analysis to determine agreement and identify associated covariates.

Main Results:

• The WAST identified 22.1% of women experiencing abuse, compared to 14.4% by the CAS (kappa = .63).
• Women identified by both tools were more likely to be married, have mental health issues, drug problems, or a partner with a substance problem.
• Significant associations were found between dual-positive IPV identification and marital status, mental health, drug use, and partner substance problems.

Conclusions:

• Healthcare screening for IPV may lead to overidentification, necessitating careful interpretation of results.
• Screening alone might miss specific characteristics that could aid in accurate abuse identification and mental health assessments via clinical case finding.