• Mohit Bhandari, Sheila Sprague, Sonia Dosanjh, Bradley Petrisor, Sarah Resendes, Kim Madden, Emil H Schemitsch, and P.R.A.I.S.E. Investigators.
• Division of Orthopaedic Surgery, Department of Surgery, McMaster University, 293 Wellington Street North, Suite 110, Hamilton, Ontario L8L 2X2, Canada. bhandam@mcmaster.ca
• J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2011 Jan 19;93(2):132-41.

Backgroundfrom 1999 to 2004, an estimated 653,000 women in Canada were either physically or sexually abused by their current or previous intimate partners. We aimed to determine the proportion of women presenting to orthopaedic fracture clinics for the treatment of musculoskeletal injuries who had experienced intimate partner violence, defined as physical, sexual, or emotional abuse, within the past twelve months.Methodswe completed a cross-sectional study of 282 injured women attending two Level-I trauma centers in Canada. Female patients presenting to the orthopaedic fracture clinics anonymously completed two previously developed self-reported written questionnaires, the Woman Abuse Screening Tool (WAST) and the Partner Violence Screen (PVS), to determine the prevalence of intimate partner violence. The questionnaire also contained questions that pertain to the participant's demographic characteristics, fracture characteristics, and experiences with health-care utilization.Resultsthe overall prevalence of intimate partner violence (emotional, physical, and sexual abuse) within the last twelve months was 32% (95% confidence interval, 26.4% to 37.2%). Twenty-four (8.5%) of the injured women disclosed a history of physical abuse in the past year. Seven women indicated that the cause for their current visit was directly related to physical abuse. Ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and injury patterns were not associated with abuse. Of the twenty-four women who reported physical abuse, only four had been asked about intimate partner violence by a physician; none of these physicians were the treating orthopaedic surgeons.Conclusionsour study suggests a high prevalence of intimate partner violence among female patients with injuries who presented to two orthopaedic fracture clinics in Ontario. Surgeons and health-care personnel in fracture clinics should consider intimate partner violence when interacting with injured women.

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