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More than 40% of women experience intimate partner violence (IPV) during their lifetimes. To examine whether IPV is associated with elevated rates of medical and psychosocial diagnoses, researchers conducted telephone interviews with >3000 English-speaking women who were selected randomly from a large health plan in Washington State and Idaho.
Women who had never experienced IPV were compared with women who had experienced IPV within the preceding year. Women in the IPV group had lower mean household incomes and averaged less education. These women had significantly higher rates of musculoskeletal, psychosocial, and reproductive diagnoses, including substance abuse (relative risk, 5.89); depression (RR, 3.26); trauma-related joint disorders …