DOMESTIC VIOLENCE - DIURNAL MISMATCH BETWEEN NEED AND AVAILABILITY OFSERVICES

Objective: To determine whether a diurnal discordance exists between n eed and availability of services for victims of domestic violence. Met hods: A consecutive sample of women presenting to a municipal hospital ED with physical injuries suspected to be related to domestic violenc e were entered into a registry. Date and time of presentation and perc eived need for services information were collected from all patients w ho answered affirmatively a screening question for domestic violence a nd whose conditions did not preclude administration of the data collec tion instrument. The Social Service Departments of all of the 53 911-r eceiving hospitals in New York City were contacted to ascertain availa bility of social services for victims of domestic violence by time of day. Results: Twenty-eight of 32 (88%; 95% CI: 71%, 97%) victims of do mestic violence presented to the ED during hours other than weekday 9 AM to 5 PM. Of these, 63% desired counseling, 32% lacked a safe place to go, and 82% had children. Of those who had children, 48% were conce rned for the children's safety. In-hospital social services were unive rsally available weekday daytime (9 AM to 5 PM) but were available in only 11% of hospitals (95% CI: 4%, 23%) at other times. Conclusion: Ap proximately nine of ten victims of domestic violence presented to the ED during hours when only about one hospital in ten can provide the sp ecial services these patients require. A marked diurnal mismatch appea rs to exist between availability of domestic violence services in New York City and the need for these services as measured by a representat ive sample drawn from an ED population, Key words: domestic violence; spouse abuse; battered women; health services; crisis intervention; so cial services.