title: Routine, single-item screening to identify abusive relationships in women.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Abusive relationships are associated with several demographic factors and many clinical problems in women. However, practices often do not screen for abuse.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a descriptive study of 1526 women aged 19 to 69 years who completed a health survey in 31 office practices. The 53-item survey included a question designed to screen for an abusive relationship. Our analysis compared self-reported measures of symptoms (N = 13) and functional limitations (n = 6) of women who had abusive relationships with those who did not. We also examined the utility of using a constellation of clinical problems to identify risk for abuse.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Women in abusive relationships were more likely to be poor (37% vs 14%; P < .001) and young (87% were younger than 51 years versus 69% of those who were not in such relationships; P < .001). They had twice as many bothersome symptoms (3.1 vs 1.7; P < .001) and functional problems (1.6 vs 0.8; P < .001). Approximately 40% (36/89) of low-income women with emotional problems were at risk for abuse versus only 6% (64/1025) of women with adequate financial resources and no emotional problems. However, because so many women were at low risk, almost twice as many in this group (n = 64) reported abusive relationships than in the high-risk group (n = 36).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Women in abusive relationships have many symptoms and functional limitations. However, symptoms and clinical problems provide insufficient clues for abuse. It is better just to ask. A single-item screening question appears adequate for this purpose.
authors.affiliation: Dartmouth Medical School, Dartmouth Primary Care Cooperative Information and Research Network, Department of Community & Family Medicine, Hanover, New Hampshire 03755-3862, USA. john.h.wasson@dartmouth.edu
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Wasson
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Jette
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: E C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Kilo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005194:Family Practice; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D013179:Spouse Abuse / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology