Police Reports on Domestic Incidents Involving Intimate Partners: Injuries and Medical Help-Seeking

ABSTRACT

This study aims to expand knowledge of partner abuse injury and help-seeking through a new source of data. We reviewed police reports during corresponding periods in 1996 and 1997 (n = 476). Complainants were injured in 17.4% of all incidents; 90% of those injured were women. Hispanics were more likely to be injured than non-Hispanics (OR = 2.06; 95% CI = 1.0, 4.25). The likelihood of injury decreased with each year of increasing age (OR = 0.95; CI = 0.91, 0.99). Only 20.5% of those injured consented to medical care. Police reports provide information on partner abuse injury that supplements hospital surveillance and household surveys.

KEYWORDS:

• Domestic violence
• injury
• patient acceptance of health care
• police
• spouse abuse