Using Radiology as a Screening Tool to Identify Intimate Partner Violence

Area of Science:

• Radiology
• Public Health
• Forensic Medicine

Background:

• Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a significant public health issue with potential for serious injury.
• Understanding patterns of healthcare utilization, particularly imaging, can aid in identifying victims and assessing injuries.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine imaging utilization trends in women reporting physical IPV.
• To identify radiologically evident injuries associated with IPV.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective case-control study of imaging reports from 2013-2018.
• Compared 265 women reporting IPV (cases) with 875 matched controls.
• Utilized Poisson and logistic regression to analyze imaging utilization and injury patterns.

Main Results:

• IPV cases had 1.5 times higher overall imaging utilization.
• Higher rates of emergency department, overnight, and weekend imaging in IPV cases.
• IPV cases showed significantly increased rates of cranial, facial, and thoracic injuries (aIRR 15.1).
• IPV cases were more likely to have multiple injuries per encounter or over time.

Conclusions:

• Women experiencing IPV exhibit distinct patterns of increased imaging utilization, often in urgent settings.
• Radiological findings reveal a substantially higher burden of injury among IPV survivors.
• These findings highlight the importance of considering IPV in imaging assessments and healthcare encounters.