De prevalentie van partnergeweld bij vrouwen die de poliklinieken Traumachirurgie/Orthopedie bezoeken in het AMC Amsterdam en het OLVG

Objective1) Determine the prevalence of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) in women visiting the outpatient trauma clinic of the Academic Medical Center or Onze Lieve Vrouwe Gasthuis after a traumatic injury. 2) Determine if the populations of the two hospitals differ. 3) Identify predictors for IPV.Study designA cross-sectional study, as part of an international study (PRAISE).MethodsIn this study 600 Dutch patients were included. Patients visiting the outpatient trauma clinic for the first time after a traumatic injury were asked to fill in a self-reported written questionnaire anonymously. The questionnaire consisted of questions regarding patient characteristics, the Partner Violence Screen (PVS) and Women Abuse Screening Tool (WAST). With these questionnaires the prevalence of IPV during the last 12 months and their lifetime was determined. Multivariate analyses were performed to determine predictors of patient characteristics of IPV.Results3-18% of the female patients visiting the outpatient trauma clinic was victim of IPV in the last 12 months, 27-33% during their lifetime. The population differed significantly in ethnicity, education level, income, type of injury and having children. There was only a significant association between age, education level and ethnicity and the PVS-score in multivariate analysis.ConclusionThe prevalence of IPV in female patients visiting our outpatient trauma clinic warrants an active policy. More research is needed in the Netherlands in order to give advice in the context of the Model Reporting Code for Domestic Violence and Child Abuse about the effective method for signaling IPV and the most effective interventions.