BATTERED WOMEN - INJURY LOCATIONS AND TYPES

Study objective: To characterize injuries to battered women by compari ng their location, type, and severity with those of injuries to women resulting from other mechanisms. Methods: Cross-sectional study of 9,0 57 women between the ages of 19 and 65 years who presented for any rea son to the emergency departments of 10 hospitals serving inner-city, u rban, and suburban populations. Results: A total of 280 injured, batte red women were identified during the study period. About 3.1% (95% con fidence interval [CI], 2.7% to 3.5%) of all women seen in the ED, and 11.2% (95% CI, 10.0% to 12.4%) of injured women with known mechanisms of injury, were determined to be positive for battering. Battered wome n were more likely to be injured in the head, face, neck, thorax, and abdomen (P<.001) than were women injured by other mechanisms. Twelve s pecific injury types were identified that occurred more frequently in battered women. Conclusion: Although battered women experience certain injury types more frequently than women injured by other mechanisms, the low positive predictive value of these injuries supports the use o f universal screening for domestic violence in all injured women.