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Emergency department response to battered women in Massachusetts
1Injury Control Center, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts.
Study Objectives:
To determine the prevalence of written protocols for response to battered women and the perceived incidence of such cases in the emergency department and to examine general issues of responsiveness to this patient population.
Design:
Questionnaires were sent to all 90 EDs in Massachusetts in 1991, and a response rate of 79% was obtained.
Type Of Participants:
ED directors (75% of respondents).
Measurements:
Self-reported response to written survey.
Main Results:
Fourteen EDs (20%) reported having a written protocol in use. 58% of the EDs estimated that they see five or fewer battered women each month. Half of respondents estimated that 2% or less of adult female trauma stems from battering. Few differences were found between EDs with and without protocols.
Conclusion:
In 1991, prior to several initiatives on domestic violence in the health care sector, written protocols for response to battered women were rare. The majority of EDs perceived battering as an infrequent cause of adult female trauma, contrary to prior research findings.