Citation

Oram S, Trevillion K, Feder G, Howard LM. Br. J. Psychiatry 2013; 202: 94-99.

Affiliation

Section of Women's Mental Health, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, PO31, David Goldberg Centre, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF, UK. louise.howard@kcl.ac.uk.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, Royal College of Psychiatry)

DOI

10.1192/bjp.bp.112.109934

PMID

23377208

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Domestic violence has been linked with many mental disorders, including anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, eating disorders and psychosis. AIMS: To estimate the prevalence (adult lifetime and past year) of different types of domestic violence experienced by men and women receiving psychiatric treatment. METHOD: In a systematic review, a search of 18 electronic databases was supplemented by hand searching, citation tracking and updating a recent systematic review of criminal victimisation in psychiatric populations. Two reviewers independently extracted data and appraised study quality. RESULTS: Forty-two studies were included. The median prevalence of lifetime partner violence reported in high-quality papers was 30% (interquartile range (IQR) 26-39) among female in-patients and 33% (IQR 21-53) among female out-patients. Among male patients, one high-quality study reported a lifetime prevalence of 32% across mixed psychiatric settings. No study included a control group. CONCLUSIONS: Psychiatric patients experience a high prevalence of domestic violence but there is limited information on family (non-partner) domestic violence, the prevalence of emotional abuse and the extent of risk compared with non-psychiatric controls.

Language: en