Violence screening and advocacy are essential practices for health care providers to empower pregnant abused women so that the devastating physical and emotional sequelae of abuse can be diminished. Despite directives from national health organizations, it is estimated that between 60%-95% of women are not screened for domestic violence during their pregnancies. Health care providers (including physicians and nurses) state that they omit screening because they lack confidence in its accuracy and helpfulness. Women may be hesitant to acknowledge abuse due to issues of confidentiality and fear of reprisal from the perpetrators. Because violence research has been predominantly conducted with women over the age of 20 from clinic populations, limited knowledge exists about adolescents and patients who receive care in private offices. Anonymous research studies with population-based samples that are economically, racially, age, and ethnically diverse are needed to identify the prevalence of abuse, prevalence of screening, and factors inhibiting women from identifying abuse to health care providers. Computerized interviews provide a promising, but untested, approach for anonymous screening in postpartum units which provide a rich opportunity to recruit large numbers of economically and age-diverse patients. The proposed research will survey 500 newly delivered women in postpartum units with anonymous computerized interviews to identify the prevalence and severity of pregnancy abuse and the prevalence of prenatal violence screening and provision of interventions.
Two specific aims have been identified including 1) To establish statistical parameters of pregnancy abuse, abuse screening, and acknowledgement of abuse in a economically, ethnically, and age-diverse sample that will be used in the development of a future population study; and 2) Examine the efficacy of computerized anonymous data collection in a hospital setting for collecting information about domestic violence experienced during pregnancy and for conveying advocacy information. The results of the research will lay the statistical and methodological foundation for a population-based study to measure prevalence of pregnancy abuse and assessment strategies. The long-term goal for this program of research is to refine and implement protocols, including computerized assessment and advocacy interventions, for systematic violence and abuse screening in all obstetrical and gynecological care settings. ? ?
| Renker, Paula Rinard; Tonkin, Peggy (2007) Postpartum women's evaluations of an audio/video computer-assisted perinatal violence screen. Comput Inform Nurs 25:139-47 |
| Renker, Paula Rinard; Tonkin, Peggy (2006) Women's views of prenatal violence screening: acceptability and confidentiality issues. Obstet Gynecol 107:348-54 |
