The “Battering Syndrome”: Prevalence and Clinical Characteristics of Domestic Violence in Primary Care Internal Medicine Practices

作者：Jeanne McCauley, David E. Kern, Ken Kolodner, Laurie Dill, Arthur F. Schroeder, Hallie K. DeChant, Janice Ryden, Eric B. Bass, Len R. Derogatis · 发表于：Annals of Internal Medicine · 年份：1995 · DOI：10.7326/0003-4819-123-10-199511150-00001 · 被引用次数：747 · 研究领域：Intimate Partner and Family Violence、Homicide, Infanticide, and Child Abuse、Child Abuse and Trauma

OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of domestic violence among female patients and to identify clinical characteristics that are associated with current domestic violence. DESIGN: Cross-sectional, self-administered, anonymous survey. SETTING: 4 community-based, primary care internal medicine practices. PATIENTS: 1952 female patients of varied age and marital, educational, and economic status who were seen from February to July 1993. MEASUREMENTS: The survey instrument included previously validated questions on physical and sexual abuse, alcohol abuse, and emotional status and questions on demographic characteristics, physical symptoms, use of street drugs and prescribed medications, and medical and psychiatric history. RESULTS: 108 of the 1952 respondents (5.5%) had experienced domestic violence in the year before presentation. Four hundred eighteen (21.4%) had experienced domestic violence sometime in their adult lives, 429 (22.0%) before age 18 years, and 639 (32.7%) as either an adult or child. Compared with women who had not recently experienced domestic violence, currently abused patients were more likely to be younger than 35 years of age (prevalence ratio [PR], 4.1 [95% CI, 2.8 to 6.0]); were more likely to be single, separated, or divorced (PR, 2.5 [CI, 1.7 to 3.6]); were more likely to be receiving medical assistance or to have no insurance (PR, 4.3 [CI, 2.8 to 6.6]); had more physical symptoms (mean, 7.3 +/- 0.38 compared with 4.6 +/- 0.08; P < 0.001); had highe...