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Article
Intimate Partner Violence Incidence and Continuation in a Primary Care Screening Program
American Journal of Epidemiology (2007)
  • Ann L. Coker, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
  • Vicki C. Flerx, University of South Carolina - Columbia
  • Paige H. Smith, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
  • Daniel J. Whitaker, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  • Mary Kay Fadden, University of Texas at Brownsville
  • Melinda Williams, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Abstract
There are few longitudinal estimates of intimate partner violence (IPV) incidence and continuation. This report provides estimates of IPV incidence and continuation in women receiving health care in clinics participating in an IPV assessment and services intervention study. The Women's Experience with Battering Scale was used in combination with questions addressing physical and sexual assault to annually screen women for IPV. Between April 2002 and August 2005, 657 women in rural South Carolina consented and were screened at least twice. Among those with a current partner (n = 530), the majority (86.2%) had never experienced IPV. Among prevalent victims, IPV continued over time for 37%. IPV continuation rates were higher among older women and those who considered abuse as a problem in their relationship. Of those women who were IPV negative at time 1, IPV incidence at time 2 was 4.2%. A higher score on the Women's Experience with Battering Scale at time 1, a marker of psychological abuse, was a strong predictor of physical IPV incidence (ptrend = 0.0001). These data suggest that the incidence of IPV over a short follow-up period is relatively low and that the majority of IPV desists over this short follow-up period.
Keywords
  • IPV,
  • intimate partner violence,
  • WEB,
  • Women's Experience with Battering
Publication Date
2007
Citation Information
Ann L. Coker, Vicki C. Flerx, Paige H. Smith, Daniel J. Whitaker, et al.. "Intimate Partner Violence Incidence and Continuation in a Primary Care Screening Program" American Journal of Epidemiology Vol. 165 Iss. 7 (2007)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/anncoker/39/