Rates and Relative Risk of Hospital Admission Among Women in Violent Intimate Partner Relationships

This study examined rates of nonobstetric hospital admissions among adult female residents of King County, Washington who had been exposed to a violent, intimate relationship compared to rates for women not known to have been abused. In the group of abused women (n=1355), there were 5 suicide attempts yielding a rate of 3.7. In the group of nonabused women (n=36,532), there were 36 suicide attempts or a rate of 1.0. The results confirm previous research which has found a greater frequency of suicide attempts among abused women. The study showed an increased relative risk of both overall & diagnosis-specific hospitalizations among abused women. Intimate partner violence has a significant impact on women’s health & use of health care. (29 refs.)