Partner violence: Implications for health and community settings

Objective: To assist in the design and implementation of strategies to addr ess partner violence, the objective of this study was to evaluate differenc es in mental health, health behaviors, and use of health care and specific community services between women who do or do not report experiences of par tner violence as an adult. Methods: During interviews with 392 women enrolled in a Medicaid managed ca re organization, measures of mental health status, health behaviors, use of health care and community services, and experiences of partner violence we re collected. Using bivariate statistical analyses, characteristics between women reporting or not reporting partner violence were compared. Chi-squar e tests were used to assess significant differences between the groups. The relationships between outcomes of interest and violence were estimated wit h logistic regression models adjusting for significant demographic and heal th characteristics. Results: Overall, 28% of women reported experiences of partner violence. Wo men reporting partner violence had twice the adjusted odds of depression an d three times the adjusted odds of negative self-esteem compared with women not reporting experiences of partner violence. Women reporting partner vio lence, compared with those who did not, indicated higher use of specific ty pes of health and community services such as mental health services [odds r atio (OR) 2.9; confidence interval (CI) 1.5-5.6] and individual counseling (OR 3.6; CI 2.2-6.1). Conclusions: A communitywide effort that establishes linkages between healt h care settings and community services may be important in addressing the n eeds of women who are experiencing partner violence.