title: [Long-term somatic consequences of intimate partner violence in primary care female patients].
abstract: Violence against women has many various short- and long-term effects. Although violence by an intimate partner has been widely documented, still little is known about its long-term somatic consequences for the victim.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  of the study was to examine the prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV) among patients seeing a general practitioner as well as to determine relationships between IPV and somatic complaints other than direct somatic consequences (such as injuries), including somatic diseases and healthcare services use.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study sample comprised 151 women seeing a family doctor consecutively. The participants were administered a structured interview questionnaire developed for the purpose of this study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of IPV for the total sample of primary health care female patients was 35.1% during 12 months preceding the examination. Compared to patients with no violence history, those experiencing IPV reported significantly more physical complaints and symptoms, particularly about cardiovascular, nervous, digestive and genitourinary systems. They were also at a higher risk of developing numerous diseases, with the greatest risk of peptic ulcer (OR, 6.62), and ischaemic heart disease (OR, 5.98). IPV victims were also more likely to seek help of a family doctor and the following specialists: neurologist (OR, 3.88), cardiologist (OR, 4.01), gastroenterologist (OR, 4.51), psychiatrist (OR, 2.43), endocrinologist (OR, 1.6), and pulmonologist (OR, 1.2). They were also more likely to use emergency department (OR, 3.23) and require hospitalization (OR, 3.61).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It is recommended that the medical interview should include questions referring to violence, especially in case of patients reporting various symptoms about different systems and organs that have no medical explanation, or symptoms with intensity greater than it should be given the patients' actual physical state.
authors.affiliation: Public Regional Psychiatric Hospital in Radecznica.
authors.forename: Paulina
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Łukasik
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Early Intervention, Medical University of Lublin; Department of Clinical Neuropsychiatry, Medical University of Lublin.
authors.forename: Hanna
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Karakuła-Juchnowicz
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neuropsychiatry, Medical University of Lublin.
authors.forename: Justyna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Morylowska-Topolska
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Early Intervention, Medical University of Lublin.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Flis
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neuropsychiatry, Medical University of Lublin.
authors.forename: Paweł
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Krukow
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D000066511:Intimate Partner Violence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017202:Myocardial Ischemia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D010437:Peptic Ulcer / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D011044:Poland; D015995:Prevalence; D011320:Primary Health Care; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: intimate partner violence; medical care; somatic consequences