Dedicated delayed intimate partner violence (IPV) screening improves IPV survivor identification

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Trauma Care
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a global health crisis with significant physical and mental health consequences.
• Hospitalized patients experiencing IPV are at risk for recurrent IPV-related hospitalizations.
• Universal screening for IPV is recommended but faces barriers to consistent, patient-centered implementation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the effectiveness of dedicated delayed screening (DDS) versus early screening (ES) for identifying patients at risk for IPV.
• To evaluate the hypothesis that DDS identifies more at-risk patients than ES.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective study at a level-1 trauma center involving trauma patients aged 15 and older (July 2022-October 2023).
• Compared standard early screening (ES) administered on arrival with dedicated delayed screening (DDS) administered during tertiary survey.
• Utilized Fisher's exact test and Mann-Whitney U test for data analysis.

Main Results:

• DDS screened fewer patients (202) than ES (1414), but detected IPV more frequently (6.3% vs 0.6%).
• Patients screened by DDS were younger and had longer hospital stays.
• DDS resulted in over 200% increased identification of IPV compared to ES, with 21 total positive screens.

Conclusions:

• Dedicated delayed screening (DDS) is more effective at identifying intimate partner violence victims than early screening (ES).
• Improved compliance with both screening methods is crucial for IPV detection.
• A two-phase screening approach, starting with ES followed by DDS, is proposed to enhance IPV identification.