title: Prevalence of childhood physical and sexual abuse in veterans with psychiatric diagnoses.
abstract: We examined the prevalence of childhood (≤ 18 years) physical and sexual abuse reported among patients admitted to the psychiatric inpatient service and the differential rates of this abuse associated with psychiatric diagnoses. This study consisted of a retrospective chart review of 603 patients admitted to a psychiatric ward during a period of 1 year at Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center who had data on childhood physical and sexual abuse. The prevalence of reported childhood physical or sexual abuse in this inpatient clinical population was 19.4% (117/603). The prevalence of reported physical abuse was 22.6% (19/84) in the women and 12.0% (62/519) in the men (p = 0.008); the prevalence of sexual abuse was 33.3% (28/84) in the women and 7.7% (40/519) in the men (p < 0.0001). More patients with depressive disorders reported sexual abuse than did those without these disorders. More patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) reported physical and sexual abuse than did those without these disorders. Stratifying by race, sex, and diagnoses, multivariate analyses showed that the women with PTSD had a greater likelihood to report physical abuse (p = 0.03) and sexual abuse histories (p = 0.008) than did the women without PTSD. The men with substance-induced mood disorder (p = 0.01) were more likely to report physical abuse compared with the men without substance-induced mood disorder. Screening for abuse in patients with depressive disorders and PTSD is warranted to tailor individualized treatments for these patients. More research is needed to better understand the potential implications of childhood abuse on psychiatric diagnoses.
authors.affiliation: Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA. majujuju@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Maju Mathew
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Koola
authors.forename: Clifford
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Qualls
authors.forename: Deanna L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Kelly
authors.forename: Kelly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Skelton
authors.forename: Bekh
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bradley
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Amar
authors.forename: Erica J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Duncan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003130:Combat Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005845:Georgia; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D010343:Patient Admission; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D014728:Veterans / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
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