Domestic violence screening of obstetric triage patients in a military population

OBJECTIVE: The objective was to estimate the self-reported prevalence of domestic violence in a pregnant military population presenting for emergency care, and to determine the acceptability of domestic violence screening.

STUDY DESIGN: A prospective observational survey of patients presenting for obstetric emergency care. Women were anonymously screened for domestic violence using the Abuse Assessment Screen.

RESULT: A total of 499 surveys were distributed, with 26 duplicate surveys. After excluding the 12 blank surveys, a total of 461 surveys were included in the final analysis. The lifetime prevalence of domestic violence (including physical, emotional and sexual abuse) was 22.6% (95% CI=19.0 to 26.4) with 4.1% (95% CI=2.3-6.0) of women reporting physical abuse in the past year and 2.8% (95% CI=1.3-4.3) reporting abuse since becoming pregnant. The majority of women 91.8% (95% CI=88.7-94.2) were not offended by domestic violence screening and 88.8% (95% CI=82.0-88.9) felt that patients should be routinely screened.

CONCLUSION: The self-reported prevalence of domestic violence in a pregnant military population presenting for emergency care was 22.6%. Most women are not offended by domestic violence screening and support routine screening.