Comparison of domestic violence screening methods: a pilot study

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Clinical Research
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Domestic violence (DV) screening in emergency departments (EDs) faces barriers, leading to inconsistent data collection.
• These inconsistencies impact the accuracy of DV incidence measurements in ED populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design a novel screening tool to overcome existing barriers in DV detection.
• To evaluate patient acceptability of an alternative DV screening method.
• To compare the efficacy of the alternative method against traditional face-to-face screening.

Main Methods:

• A study was conducted in a rural university-affiliated ED with ~36,000 annual visits.
• 186 women over 18 were included; half underwent traditional face-to-face DV screening, the other half used a taped questionnaire.
• Responses were recorded via coded answer sheets for the taped questionnaire group.

Main Results:

• 175 screenings were completed; 51% reported a history of DV, and 3% presented to the ED due to DV-related injuries.
• No significant differences were observed between the taped questionnaire and face-to-face methods in DV screening.
• Patients reported no issues with hearing or understanding the recorded instructions.

Conclusions:

• A recorded questionnaire is a viable and effective alternative to physician-led screening for domestic violence in ED settings.
• This method demonstrates comparable effectiveness to traditional screening and is recommended for assessing DV prevalence.
• The approach offers a consistent and potentially more reliable means of data collection for DV in emergency care.