Intimate partner violence among women presenting to a university emergency department.
OBJECTIVE
To establish point and one-year prevalence data regarding partner violence (PV) for women presenting to a university teaching hospital, University of California, Irvine Medical Center (UCIMC), one of 15 emergency departments in Orange County, and to determine differences in partner violence rates when comparing descriptive variables such as race, income and education.


METHODS
An anonymous, written survey was administered to a convenience sample of 370 women presenting to University of California Irvine Emergency Department over a 12 month period.


RESULTS
Partner violence has a point prevalence of 6.7% and a one-year prevalence of 37.0%. Women who have experienced previous abuse are more likely to present with complaints related to PV acutely. Lower income levels correlate with a higher incidence of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. We found no correlation between race and likelihood of PV.


CONCLUSIONS
PV in Orange County, California occurs quite frequently. The one-year prevalence compares to that of the entire state of California, but is at the higher limit when other areas are compared. Detection rates among EPs should be improved, and services to women who have suffered PV will need to be enhanced within Orange County.
Wenker
Kerilee
K
Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California, Irvine Medical Center.
Gorchynski
Julie
J