Introduction: Interpersonal violence in South Africa is the second highest contributor to the burden of disease after HIV/ AIDS and 62 % is estimated to be from intimate partner violence (IPV). This study aimed to evaluate how women experiencing IPV present in primary care, how often IPV is recognized by health care practitioners and what other diagnoses are made. Methods: At two urban and three rural community health centres, health practitioners were trained to screen all women fo

A Marais

B Mash

F Bradley

F Duxbury

H Van der Walt

J Campbell

J Coid

J Herman

J Ritchie

James G. Scott

JC Campbell

JD Gass

K Hegarty

K Joyner

Kate Joyner

LJ Martin

N Abrahams

R Jewkes

R Norman

Robert Mash

S Lo Fo Wong

S Mathews

English

PubMed

Interpersonal violence in South Africa is the second highest contributor to the burden of disease after HIV/AIDS and 62% is estimated to be from intimate partner violence (IPV). This study aimed to evaluate how women experiencing IPV present in primary care, how often IPV is recognized by health care practitioners and what other diagnoses are made.At two urban and three rural community health centres, health practitioners were trained to screen all women for IPV over a period of up to 8 weeks. Medical records of 114 thus identified women were then examined and their reasons for encounter (RFE) and diagnoses over the previous 2-years were coded using the International Classification of Primary Care. Three focus group interviews were held with the practitioners and interviews with the facility managers to explore their experience of screening.IPV was previously recognized in 11 women (9.6%). Women presented with a variety of RFE that should raise the index of suspicion for IPV– headache, request for psychiatric medication, sleep disturbance, tiredness, assault, feeling anxious and depressed. Depression was the commonest diagnosis. Interviews identified key issues that prevented health practitioners from screening.This study demonstrated that recognition of women with IPV is very low in South African primary care and adds useful new information on how women present to ambulatory health services. These findings offer key cues that can be used to improve selective case finding for IPV in resource-poor settings. Universal screening was not supported by this study

Joyner Kate

Mash Robert

Public Library of Science (PLOS)

Recognizing Intimate Partner Violence in Primary Care: Western Cape, South Africa

IntroductionInterpersonal violence in South Africa is the second highest contributor to the burden of disease after HIV/AIDS and 62% is estimated to be from intimate partner violence (IPV). This study aimed to evaluate how women experiencing IPV present in primary care, how often IPV is recognized by health care practitioners and what other diagnoses are made.MethodsAt two urban and three rural community health centres, health practitioners were trained to screen all women for IPV over a period of up to 8 weeks. Medical records of 114 thus identified women were then examined and their reasons for encounter (RFE) and diagnoses over the previous 2-years were coded using the International Classification of Primary Care. Three focus group interviews were held with the practitioners and interviews with the facility managers to explore their experience of screening.ResultsIPV was previously recognized in 11 women (9.6%). Women presented with a variety of RFE that should raise the index of suspicion for IPV- headache, request for psychiatric medication, sleep disturbance, tiredness, assault, feeling anxious and depressed. Depression was the commonest diagnosis. Interviews identified key issues that prevented health practitioners from screening.ConclusionThis study demonstrated that recognition of women with IPV is very low in South African primary care and adds useful new information on how women present to ambulatory health services. These findings offer key cues that can be used to improve selective case finding for IPV in resource-poor settings. Universal screening was not supported by this study

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PLoS ONE

Recognizing intimate partner violence in primary care: Western Cape, South Africa.

Publication of this article was funded by the Stellenbosch University Open Access Fund.The original publication is available at www.plosone.org/Introduction: Interpersonal violence in South Africa is the second highest contributor to the burden of disease after HIV/
AIDS and 62% is estimated to be from intimate partner violence (IPV). This study aimed to evaluate how women
experiencing IPV present in primary care, how often IPV is recognized by health care practitioners and what other diagnoses
are made.
Methods: At two urban and three rural community health centres, health practitioners were trained to screen all women for
IPV over a period of up to 8 weeks. Medical records of 114 thus identified women were then examined and their reasons for
encounter (RFE) and diagnoses over the previous 2-years were coded using the International Classification of Primary Care.
Three focus group interviews were held with the practitioners and interviews with the facility managers to explore their
experience of screening.
Results: IPV was previously recognized in 11 women (9.6%). Women presented with a variety of RFE that should raise the
index of suspicion for IPV– headache, request for psychiatric medication, sleep disturbance, tiredness, assault, feeling
anxious and depressed. Depression was the commonest diagnosis. Interviews identified key issues that prevented health
practitioners from screening.
Conclusion: This study demonstrated that recognition of women with IPV is very low in South African primary care and adds
useful new information on how women present to ambulatory health services. These findings offer key cues that can be
used to improve selective case finding for IPV in resource-poor settings. Universal screening was not supported by this
study.Stellenbosch University Open Access FundPublishers' Versio

Joyner, Kate

Mash, Robert

Stellenbosch University SUNScholar Repository

Recognizing intimate partner violence in primary care : Western Cape, South Africa

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Recognizing Intimate Partner Violence in Primary Care: Western Cape, South Africa

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