Does Routine Screening for Intimate Partner Violence Against Women in Health Care Settings do More Good Than Harm?

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The purpose of the research is to evaluate whether routine screening for woman abuse in health care settings, as compared to no screening, does more good than harm. Recent reviews have identified the need for high quality research to understand 1) the actual impact on all women of instituting mass screening procedures to identify woman abuse and 2) the extent to which early identification through screening is effective in preventing or ameliorating important outcomes. The main outcomes for the study are reduction in violence, improvement in life quality, and potential harms of screening. A number of secondary outcomes to help understand the process by which screening and usual care might lead to changes in the primary outcomes will also be assessed.

Official Title
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If, When and How to Ask the Question(s): Assessing Screening Approaches to Identifying Woman Abuse in Health Care Settings

Conditions
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Intimate Partner Violence Against Women

Intervention / Treatment
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* Other: Screening for intimate partner violence


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Women aged 18-64 years Patients at the health care site Able to participate in English Able to separate from accompanying person(s) Exclusion Criteria: Too ill to participate Unable to separate from accompanying person(s) Unable to speak, read, or write English

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years
Maximum Age: 64 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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Female

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Screening
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: 1<br>Women are screened for intimate partner violence prior to seeing a health care provider. | Other: Screening for intimate partner violence<br>* Women are screened for intimate partner violence prior to seeing a health care provider.<br>|
| No Intervention: 2<br>Women see their health care provider without being asked about intimate partner violence. | |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Recurrence of intimate partner violence |  | 18 months | 
| Health-specific quality of life |  | 18 months | 
| Harms of screening and/or usual care |  | 18 months | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Mental health (depression, post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD], anxiety, somatic complaints, substance use) |  | 18 months | 
| Global physical and emotional health and well-being |  | 18 months | 
| Health services utilization |  | 18 months | 
| Safety behaviours |  | 18 months | 
| Use of information and resources |  | 18 months | 
| Child quality of life |  | 18 months | 
| Stage in process of identifying and resolving abuse |  | 18 months | 
| Exposure to maltreatment as a child |  | 18 months | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Domestic violence, Spouse Abuse