USA Study – Hospital Computer System For Domestic Violence Alert
Author: Womens UN Report Network
Date: May 22, 2006
Thu May 25, 7:08 PM ET
THURSDAY, May 25 (HealthDay News) — Women seen in emergency care are often
reluctant to report any risk or incident of domestic violence.
But a new U.S. study finds that a computer-based screening program may help
encourage these women to discuss the issue with Emergency Room health
workers.
The computer program used in the study asked women questions about a number
of health risks, including eight questions that focused on domestic violence. If
a woman gave a “yes” response to any of those eight questions, the computer
program printed out an alert that was then stapled to the patient’s chart. The
alert prompted a doctor or nurse practitioner to assess the woman for signs of
domestic abuse.
The University of Chicago study, reported in the May 22 issue of the Archives
of Internal Medicine, included more than 800 women at an urban and a suburban
hospital emergency department (ED). The women were randomly selected to complete
the computer-based risk assessment or to receive usual care.
Women who completed the computer screening were more likely to talk to a
doctor or nurse practitioner about domestic violence and twice as likely to
disclose domestic violence than women who received standard care, the study
found.
In the urban ED, 56 percent of women who completed the computer screening
discussed domestic violence with their clinician, compared to 45 percent of
women who received usual care. Women who did the computer survey were also more
likely to disclose their own domestic violence situations (14 percent vs. 8
percent), or to receive care or referrals for domestic violence (8 percent vs. 4
percent).
In the suburban ED, women were overall much less likely to discuss domestic
violence (11 percent in the computer screening group and 9 percent in the
standard care group), or to disclose domestic violence (5 percent in both
groups).
“Domestic violence is a highly prevalent condition, but detection in the ED
remains elusive,” the study authors wrote. “We found that female patients will
disclose their domestic violence risk to a computer. Our study both supports the
potential for computer screening to increase identification and referral for
domestic violence.”
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