Obstetrician-gynecologist and patient factors associated with intimate partner violence screening in a clinical setting

ABSTRACT

Screening for intimate partner violence is recommended by the medical community. This study investigated obstetrician-gynecologists’ intimate partner violence screening patterns and physician and patient factors associated with screening. Four hundred obstetricians-gynecologists completed the Physician Readiness to Manage Intimate Partner Violence Survey between December 2014 and July 2015. Their patients completed the Patient Safety and Satisfaction Survey. Hierarchical generalized linear modeling analyzed physician and patient variables related to the likelihood of being screened. Forty-four physicians responded. The viable patient response rate was 81.3 percent (n = 894) of patients from included physicians. Less than half (43.2 percent) of physicians reported screening during annual exams. There was a statistically significant difference for patient race/ethnicity (p < .03) and the number of previous doctor visits (p < .03) with not being screened. These patient-level variables accounted for approximately 68.3 percent of the variance screening odds. There was no significant difference (p < .10) between physicians’ perceived preparation, knowledge, and attitudes for not being screened. The hierarchical generalized linear modeling analysis showed a trend for physicians with a high-perceived preparation for screening was related to initial visits. This study identified that obstetrician-gynecologists do not routinely screen for IPV and race/ethnicity and number of visits are factors in screening for intimate partner violence.

KEYWORDS:

• Domestic violence
• gynecology screening
• intimate partner violence
• obstetrician-gynecologist
• obstetrics
• reproductive health
• women’s health

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

Financial support for this study was provided in part by Grant UA6MC19010 from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (Title V, Social Security Act, Health Resources and Services Administration, and Department of Health and Human Services).