The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #71200

Jeffrey D. Schulden, MD, Division of Violence Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Highway, MS K-60, Atlanta, GA 30307, 770.488.1529, jschulden@cdc.gov, Alex Crosby, MD; MPH, Centers for Disease Control, 1600 Clifton Rd, Atlanta, GA 30333, Charles Hoge, MD, Col, Division of Neuropsychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, 503 Grant Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20910, and David T. Orman, MD, Col, 2050 Worth Road, U.S. Army Medical Command, MCHO-CL-H, Fort Sam Houston, TX 78234.

Background: Between June 11 and July 23, 2002, five incidents of fatal intimate partner violence occurred at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Because of this perceived clustering of fatal incidents, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention assisted the U.S. Army and the North Carolina State Health Department in their investigation of these incidents. Methods: Through review of military police records, we identified all cases of intimate partner fatalities occurring during the preceding two-year period (9/00 – 8/02), in which a soldier stationed at Fort Bragg was either the alleged perpetrator or victim. During this two year period, there were two additional cases of intimate partner fatalities. We abstracted data on all cases from several available sources including military and civilian police investigation reports and military medical records. Results: In five of the seven cases during this two-year period, the alleged perpetrator was male, young to middle age, and in a long-term relationship with the victim. Most of these cases involved long-standing marital discord and threatened or recent separation. Statistical tests for analyzing temporal clustering of rare events, including the Scan Test and Larsen’s Unimodal Clustering Test, offer some evidence of nonrandom temporal clustering for these incidents. Conclusions: Results of this study highlight the need for further investigation into the issues of fatal and non-fatal intimate partner violence among military members, the impact of deployment on military family life, and the delivery of social and psychological services among service members.

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of this session, the participant in this session will be able to:
• Describe important risk/protective factors for intimate partner violence which were evaluated as part of this investigation.
• Discuss the epidemiology of intimate partner homicide and intimate partner homicide-suicide.
• Articulate some of the complexities of statistical analyses for the occurrence of rare events utilized in this investigation.

Keywords: Violence Prevention,

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
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.