Intimate partner violence and cancer screening among urban minority women

Purpose: to evaluate the association of intimate partner violence (ipv) with breast and cervical cancer screening rates. methods: we conducted retrospective chart audits of 382 adult women at 4 urban family medicine practices. inclusion criteria were not being pregnant,no cancer history,and having a partner. victims were defined as those who screened positive on at least one of 2 brief ipv screening tools: the hits (hurt,insult,threat,scream) tool or women abuse screening tool (short). logistic regression models were used to examine whether nonvictims,victims of emotional abuse,and victims of physical and/or sexual abuse were up to date for mammograms and papanicolaou smears. results: prevalence of ipv was 16.5%. compared with victims of emotional abuse only,victims of physical and/or sexual abuse aged 40 to 74 were associated with 87% decreased odds of being up to date on papanicolaou smears (odds ratio,0.13; 95% ci,0.02-0.86) and 84% decreased odds of being up to date in mammography (odds ratio,0.16; 95% ci,0.03-0.99). there was no difference in papanicolaou smear rates among female victims and nonvictims younger than 40. conclusions: because of the high prevalence of ipv,screening is essential among all women. clinicians should ensure that victims of physical and/or sexual abuse are screened for cervical cancer and breast cancer,particularly women aged 40 or older. cancer screening promotion programs are needed for victims of abuse.