Intimate Partner Violence and Cervical, Breast, and Colorectal Cancer Screening: Findings from the Washington State...

Psychological intimate partner violence (IPV) is the most common subtype of IPV, but there is scant research on its impacts on health behaviors, including cancer screening. People who have experienced IPV may underuse preventive health tests that are sensitive in nature, such as cervical, breast, and colorectal cancer (CRC) screening.

We defined study populations by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendations for cervical, breast, and CRC screening populations. Using data from the 2018 Washington State Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, we used probit regression models to compare cancer screening recommendations between individuals who had and had not ever experienced psychological IPV adjusted for age, race/ethnicity, income, marital status, education, and rurality. We also compared the choice of CRC screening methods.

Overall IPV prevalence ranged from 12.3% to 22.1% among the cancer screening populations. There were no significant differences between individuals who had experienced IPV compared to those who had not for cervical (aPR = 1.19, 95% CI: 1.00, 1.41), breast (aPR = 0.92, 95% CI: 0.78, 1.08), and CRC screening (males aPR = 0.92, 95% CI: 0.66, 1.27, females aPR = 1.10, 95% CI: 0.90, 1.34). There were no significant differences in CRC screening method choice by IPV experience in males or females.

We did not find evidence of an association between IPV and cancer screening or choice of CRC screening methods. Everyone who experiences IPV experiences it differently; therefore, trauma-informed care remains the best practice.