title: Association between depression and abuse by partners of women attending general practice: descriptive, cross sectional survey.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore the association between depression and physical, emotional, and sexual abuse by partners or ex-partners of women attending general practice.
  
  
  METHODS
  Descriptive, cross sectional survey.
  
  
  METHODS
  30 general practitioners in Victoria, Australia.
  
  
  METHODS
  1257 consecutive female patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Some type of abuse in an adult intimate relationship (composite abuse scale), depression (Beck depression inventory or Edinburgh postnatal depression scale), and physical health (SF-36).
  
  
  RESULTS
  18.0% (218/1213) of women scored as currently probably depressed and 24.1% (277/1147) had experienced some type of abuse in an adult intimate relationship. Depressed women were significantly more likely to have experienced severe combined abuse than women who were not depressed after adjusting for other significant sociodemographic variables (odds ratio 5.8, 95% confidence interval 2.8 to 12.0). These variables included not being married, having a poor education, being on a low income, being unemployed or receiving a pension, pregnancy status, or being abused as a child.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Physical, emotional, and sexual abuse are strongly associated with depression in women attending general practice. Doctors should sensitively ask depressed women about their experiences of violence and abuse in intimate relationships. Research into depression should include measures of partner abuse in longitudinal and intervention studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Practice, University of Melbourne, Vic 3053, Australia. k.hegarty@unimelb.edu.au
authors.forename: Kelsey
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hegarty
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gunn
authors.forename: Patty
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chondros
authors.forename: Rhonda
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Small
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000209:etiology*; D017579:Domestic Violence; D005194:Family Practice; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017533:Marital Status; D008875:Middle Aged; D013179:Spouse Abuse / Q000523:psychology*; D014739:Victoria