Health & Medicine
Penn State Shows IPV Support for Women is Insufficient, Only One in Nine Women Receive Preventive Counseling on Violence and Safety
Kathleen Lees
First Posted: Mar 08, 2013 02:42 PM EST
According to recent reports, women who have experienced intimate partner violence may not be receiving proper treatment.
A recent study with statistics from Penn State medicine and public health science showed that only about one in five central Pennyslvania women who have experienced intimate violence is asked or counseled by a health care provider about abuse. Overall, approximately only one in nine women has received preventive counseling about violence and safety.
"Our research shows that we (as a healthcare community) haven't been doing a good job of identifying and counseling about intimate partner violence," said Jennifer S. McCall-Hosenfeld, primary care physician and assistant professor of medicine and public health sciences, Penn State College of Medicine. Of those women who participated in the Central Pennsylvania Women's Health Study, McCall-Hosenfeld stated that, "Only 20 percent who had been exposed to intimate partner violence received safety and violence counseling in the two years following the abuse, and only 11 percent of all women had discussed violence and safety at home with a health care provider."
McCall-Hosenfeld and colleagues Cynthia H. Chuang, associate professor of medicine and public health sciences, and Carol S. Weisman, Distinguished Professor of Public Health Sciences and Obstetrics and Gynecology, both at Penn State College of Medicine, examined preventive healthcare services for women of reproductive age and how exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) was associated with relevant preventive healthcare services.
The study helped women who had reported experiencing IPV, particularly those suffering from physical violence, sexual violence and threats of either by a current or former partner or spouse.
Reports indicate that over a third of the women in the U.S. have experienced intimate partner violence, according to the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey.
The researchers also point out that this abuse can lead to serious immediate and long-term health problems, as a result of inadequate preventive health care services.
The study surveyed 1,420 women of reproductive age who were participating in the Central Pennsylvania Women's Health Study between 2004 and 2007. The women responded to questions regarding intimate partner violence, healthcare access, socio-economic status and whether they had received preventive healthcare services.
In the first survey, researchers established whether women had recently been exposed to IPV by asking them to respond "yes" or "no" questions. Each question was preceded by, "In the past 12 months, has a spouse, partner or boyfriend..." along with the following:
"Threatened to hit you or throw something at you?" and "Pushed, grabbed, shoved or slapped you?"
Two years after the first survey the researchers followed up with the women, asking about any preventive health care services and preventive counseling they had received over the past 24 months. The women were then, again, asked a series of "yes" or "no" questions.
"Have you been tested for sexually transmitted infections or HIV?" and "Has a doctor or health professional asked you or talked to you about concerns about safety or violence in your home?"
According to the study, the findings represent "a missed opportunity for health promotion among women exposed to IPV."
The researchers report their results in an article published in the March/April issue of Women's Health Issues.
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First Posted: Mar 08, 2013 02:42 PM EST
According to recent reports, women who have experienced intimate partner violence may not be receiving proper treatment.
A recent study with statistics from Penn State medicine and public health science showed that only about one in five central Pennyslvania women who have experienced intimate violence is asked or counseled by a health care provider about abuse. Overall, approximately only one in nine women has received preventive counseling about violence and safety.
"Our research shows that we (as a healthcare community) haven't been doing a good job of identifying and counseling about intimate partner violence," said Jennifer S. McCall-Hosenfeld, primary care physician and assistant professor of medicine and public health sciences, Penn State College of Medicine. Of those women who participated in the Central Pennsylvania Women's Health Study, McCall-Hosenfeld stated that, "Only 20 percent who had been exposed to intimate partner violence received safety and violence counseling in the two years following the abuse, and only 11 percent of all women had discussed violence and safety at home with a health care provider."
McCall-Hosenfeld and colleagues Cynthia H. Chuang, associate professor of medicine and public health sciences, and Carol S. Weisman, Distinguished Professor of Public Health Sciences and Obstetrics and Gynecology, both at Penn State College of Medicine, examined preventive healthcare services for women of reproductive age and how exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) was associated with relevant preventive healthcare services.
The study helped women who had reported experiencing IPV, particularly those suffering from physical violence, sexual violence and threats of either by a current or former partner or spouse.
Reports indicate that over a third of the women in the U.S. have experienced intimate partner violence, according to the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey.
The researchers also point out that this abuse can lead to serious immediate and long-term health problems, as a result of inadequate preventive health care services.
The study surveyed 1,420 women of reproductive age who were participating in the Central Pennsylvania Women's Health Study between 2004 and 2007. The women responded to questions regarding intimate partner violence, healthcare access, socio-economic status and whether they had received preventive healthcare services.
In the first survey, researchers established whether women had recently been exposed to IPV by asking them to respond "yes" or "no" questions. Each question was preceded by, "In the past 12 months, has a spouse, partner or boyfriend..." along with the following:
"Threatened to hit you or throw something at you?" and "Pushed, grabbed, shoved or slapped you?"
Two years after the first survey the researchers followed up with the women, asking about any preventive health care services and preventive counseling they had received over the past 24 months. The women were then, again, asked a series of "yes" or "no" questions.
"Have you been tested for sexually transmitted infections or HIV?" and "Has a doctor or health professional asked you or talked to you about concerns about safety or violence in your home?"
According to the study, the findings represent "a missed opportunity for health promotion among women exposed to IPV."
The researchers report their results in an article published in the March/April issue of Women's Health Issues.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone