Improving surveillance of intimate partner violence by use of multiple data sources

Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a significant public health problem in the United States. Estimates of incidence and prevalence vary wi dely, depending on the data source used. Combining information from differe nt sources can enhance our understanding of IPV. Methods: In this paper, we used 1998 data from the Rhode Island (RI) Depart ment of Health Violence Against Women Public Health Surveillance System to describe the prevalence of IPV reported to police, the demographic characte ristics and help-seeking efforts of women reporting IPV, and characteristic s of IPV incidents. We used data from the 1998 RI Department of Health Beha vioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey to examine associations betwe en health care use and health outcomes of victims and nonvictims of IPV, an d to explore the correlates of IPV. We also discuss the use of both narrow and broad definitions of IPV. Results: Our findings show that the definition of IPV and the source used t o identify IPV victims can produce a markedly different picture of IPV vict ims, and that combining information from different data sources can enhance our understanding of IPV. An important finding for health care providers i s that IPV victims do not appear to be significantly different from nonvict ims in their access to and utilization of routine health care, and that mor e than 60% of victims at highest risk for injury reported seeing a health c are provider because of IPV. Conclusions: Our findings underscore the importance of health care provider s addressing IPV and its consequences among their patients.