Intimate partner violence (IPV) occurs frequently and has serious health, economic, and social consequences. Given the seriousness of this problem, numerous professional and health care organizations have recommended routine screening of women for IPV by health care providers in primary care settings. However, recent systematic reviews of the literature have not found evidence for the effectiveness of screening to improve health outcomes for women exposed to IPV. We are proposing to conduct a randomized controlled trial to provide this evidence. The trial will recruit 3680 women in a public obsetrics, gynecology, and family planning clinic. Women attending this clinic tend to be African American and of lower socioeconomic status. For this study (the Main Study), women will be randomly allocated to one of three arms: 1) screened for IPV, and if disclosing IPV, provided information on available IPV services; 2) not screened and all receiving information on available IPV services; or 3) a control group that will not be screened nor receive information on available IPV services. All three arms will be assessed with a self-report measure of mental health, disability, and quality of life at baseline utilizing an audio-computer-assisted structured interview (A-CASI) and at a 12-month follow-up utilizing a computerized-assisted telephone interview (CATI). A pretest with 196 women in this same clinic will be conducted to test the enrollment, randomization, interview, and follow-up procedures; provide estimates for outcome measures and a potential mediator of outcomes (contact of IPV services) and establish the concordance between measures used at baseline (in the clinic) and at a one-week follow-up over the phone. The study arms of the Pretest, which vary slightly from those of the Main Study, are designed to accomplish these intermediate objectives. The results will be used to refine the measures, procedures, and sample size requirements for the Main Study. The results from the Main Study, the Randomized Controlled Trial, will guide CDC as well as other governmental agencies, professional and health care orgniazations, and women's advocate groups in formulating its recommendations and policies regarding routine screening.
US Code:
42 USC 391
Name of Law: Public Health Service Act Prevention and Control of Injuries
US Code:
42 USC 301
Name of Law: Public Health Service Act Research and Investigation General
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