The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #43713

Eve M Waltermaurer, MCH, Christina Ortega, MPH, and Louise-Anne McNutt, PhD. Department of Epidemiology, University at Albany, School of Public Health, One University Place, Rensselaer, NY 12144, 518-402-0372, ew2048@albany.edu

Purpose: It has been suggested that in order to best understand the dynamics of intimate partner violence (IPV), household interviews should be conducted and should include both partners. However, no study to date has measured the implication of this requirement on a potential non-response bias on prevalence estimates.

Methods: Interviews were conducted with 135 women aged 18-44 who were in an intimate relationship in the past year. IPV prevalence was measured utilization two objective scales and one perceived severity scale. Comparisons were made of prevalence findings between the entire sample and sub-samples of women who reported willingness to participate in a household survey that included their partner.

Results: If a household survey included only those women in this sample who reported a willingness to participate in this type of study, the prevalence of non-abused women would be 9-13% higher than the prevalence obtained by the entire sample. Conversely, among those willing to participate in a household study, the prevalence of moderately or highly abused women was found to be deflated by 8-13% compared with the entire sample.

Conclusion: While inclusion of both partners in prevalence studies of IPV may prevent some biases in reporting, there are potentially harmful implications for abused women who disclose this abuse to a third party. As a result these abused women are more likely to refuse participation in a study that would require this disclosure in front of their partner. This non-participation bias is important to acknowledge when reporting IPV prevalence based on household studies.

Learning Objectives:

• Following this presentation, participants will be able to identify potential biases when interpreting intimate partner violence prevalence estimates obtained by household surveys.

Keywords: Domestic Violence, Outcome Measures

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.