Domestic violence screening of obstetric triage patients in a military population.
OBJECTIVE
The objective was to estimate the self-reported prevalence of domestic violence in a pregnant military population presenting for emergency care, and to determine the acceptability of domestic violence screening.


METHODS
A prospective observational survey of patients presenting for obstetric emergency care. Women were anonymously screened for domestic violence using the Abuse Assessment Screen.


RESULTS
A total of 499 surveys were distributed, with 26 duplicate surveys. After excluding the 12 blank surveys, a total of 461 surveys were included in the final analysis. The lifetime prevalence of domestic violence (including physical, emotional and sexual abuse) was 22.6% (95% CI=19.0 to 26.4) with 4.1% (95% CI=2.3-6.0) of women reporting physical abuse in the past year and 2.8% (95% CI=1.3-4.3) reporting abuse since becoming pregnant. The majority of women 91.8% (95% CI=88.7-94.2) were not offended by domestic violence screening and 88.8% (95% CI=82.0-88.9) felt that patients should be routinely screened.


CONCLUSIONS
The self-reported prevalence of domestic violence in a pregnant military population presenting for emergency care was 22.6%. Most women are not offended by domestic violence screening and support routine screening.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, Portsmouth, VA 23708, USA. malutgendorf@gmail.com
M A
MA
Lutgendorf
A
A
Thagard
P D
PD
Rockswold
J M
JM
Busch
E F
EF
Magann
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003625:Data Collection; D017579:Domestic Violence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004632:Emergency Medical Services; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019221:Mandatory Reporting; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011247:Pregnancy; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014218:Triage; D055815:Young Adult