Domestic violence screening of obstetric triage patients in a military population

Objective:the objective was to estimate the self-reported prevalence of domestic violence in a pregnant military population presenting for emergency care, and to determine the acceptability of domestic violence screening.study design:a prospective observational survey of patients presenting for obstetric emergency care. women were anonymously screened for domestic violence using the abuse assessment screen.result:a total of 499 surveys were distributed, with 26 duplicate surveys. after excluding the 12 blank surveys, a total of 461 surveys were included in the final analysis. the lifetime prevalence of domestic violence (including physical, emotional and sexual abuse) was 22.6% (95% ci=19.0 to 26.4) with 4.1% (95% ci=2.3–6.0) of women reporting physical abuse in the past year and 2.8% (95% ci=1.3–4.3) reporting abuse since becoming pregnant. the majority of women 91.8% (95% ci=88.7–94.2) were not offended by domestic violence screening and 88.8% (95% ci=82.0–88.9) felt that patients should be routinely screened.conclusion:the self-reported prevalence of domestic violence in a pregnant military population presenting for emergency care was 22.6%. most women are not offended by domestic violence screening and support routine screening.