Head Trauma in a Community-Based Sample of Victims of Intimate Partner Violence: Prevalence, Mechanisms of Injury and Symptom Presentation

Abstract

Objective. The present study aimed to explore the prevalence of subconcussive head trauma, traumatic brain injury (TBI), potential hypoxic events, and hypoxic brain injury (HBI) in victims of physical intimate partner violence (IPV). The study also aimed to characterize the injury presentation and mechanisms of injury in this population. Method. A group of 47 female participants with a history of at least one relationship that included physical violence completed a structured interview assessing for subconcussive hits, TBI, and HBI. Participants ranged in age from 19 to 55, and had an average of 15.3 years of education. Forty-four participants completed the structured interview in person and three participants completed the interview over the phone. Results. The majority of participants reported sustaining at least one impact to the head and approximately half of the participants sustained at least one impact that resulted in a mild TBI. Approximately half of the participants experienced at least one incident of having difficulty breathing due to a violent act from their partner, and approximately one-third of participants reported symptoms consistent with mild HBI. The most common mechanisms of injury were being hit with a closed fist and being strangled. Conclusions. The high levels of head trauma observed in this study highlight the need for clinical and community providers to screen victims of physical IPV for head trauma. The unique characteristics of this population (female sex, high frequency of injuries, and presence of HBIs) indicate that research evaluating the cognitive effects of injuries in this population is needed.

Domestic violence and injuries: prevalence and patterns—a pilot database study to identify suspected cases in a UK major trauma centre

“…The thorax was the most injured body part in patients presenting with DVA-related trauma (). In the Joseph paper, head injury was the most common DVA-related injury in the USA3 and are most commonly reported by female DVA patients 18. This finding may reflect the inclusion criteria required by TARN, as patients presenting with isolated loss of consciousness or scalp injuries are excluded from the database.…”

Intimate partner violence, substance use, and health comorbidities among women: A narrative review

“…Repetitive exposure to head trauma is also of significant concern as at least 50% of individuals within these samples report multiple episodes of head, neck, and facial trauma (Wilbur et al, 2001;St Ivany and Schminkey, 2016;Valera and Kucyi, 2017;Zieman et al, 2017). Imporantly, each head, neck, and/or facial trauma that occurs as a result of physical and sexual violence in IPV has the potential to result in a brain injury (Capizzi et al, 2020;Esopenko et al, 2021;Meyer et al, 2021;Saleem et al, 2021). IPV-related TBI can occur due to being punched, kicked, thrown, hit with an object, or shaken, all of which can result in focal and/ or diffuse axonal injury (Sheridan and Nash, 2007;Valera et al, 2019).…”

Assessing measures of resilience and posttraumatic growth for use among survivors of intimate partner violence-related brain injury: A scoping review.

“…Ivany & Schminkey, 2016; Valera et al, 2022). Current estimates suggest between 60% and 92% of IPV survivors have experienced some form of BI, yet the true prevalence remains unclear due to underreporting and underdiagnosis (Meyer et al, 2021; Smirl et al, 2019; St. Ivany & Schminkey, 2016).…”