Survey results of women who have been strangled while in an abusive relationship

Few studies attempt to examine individual methods of domestic abuse. The ob jectives of this study are to evaluate strangulation as a method of domesti c violence abuse: to determine the incidence of strangulation occurrence wi thin the cycle of domestic violence, the subjective medical symptoms experi enced by victims of intimate partner strangulation, and the elective utiliz ation of health care following a strangulation incident. Sixty-two women we re surveyed at two women's shelters in Dallas, Texas and Los Angeles, Calif ornia and the Parkland Health & Hospital (PHHS) Violence Intervention Preve ntion (VIP) Center in Dallas, Texas. Each patient was individually intervie wed and verbal responses were recorded. Statistics were performed using the SPSS program. Of the 62 surveyed, 42 (68%) had been strangled by their int imate partner who was a husband (23, 55%), boyfriend (13, 31%), or fiance ( 2, 5%), by a mother, stranger, or friend (1 each). Strangulation, as a meth od of domestic violence, is quite common in women seeking medical help or s helter in a large urban city. This study suggests that strangulation occurs late in the abusive relationship; thus, women presenting with complaints c onsistent with strangulation probably represent women at higher risk for ma jor morbidity or mortality. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc.