Citation

Rosenfeld EA, Marx J, Terry MA, Stall R, Pallatino C, Borrero SB, Miller E. Int. J. STD AIDS 2015; 27(8): 656-661.

Affiliation

Division of Adolescent Medicine, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0956462415591938

PMID

26088259

Abstract

Over one-third of women experience intimate partner violence in their lifetime. Intimate partner violence increases the risk of infection and re-infection with sexually transmitted infections. The extent to which health care providers consider intimate partner violence when recommending partner notification and expedited partner therapy is unknown. The objective of this qualitative study was to understand health care providers' views on intimate partner violence and sexually transmitted infections when recommending partner treatment to patients with chlamydia. Using a purposive sampling strategy to include health care providers who treat young women at risk for chlamydia, 23 semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted. While some health care providers expressed concern for their patients' safety and believed assessing for intimate partner violence was needed before provision of expedited partner therapy, nearly a third had not considered the links between intimate partner violence and sexually transmitted infections. Strategies used by health care providers to assess for intimate partner violence did not include inquiry about specific behaviours related to intimate partner violence, sexually transmitted infection risk, and sexual coercion. Many health care providers understand the risk for intimate partner violence in the setting of sexually transmitted infection treatment, yet a significant portion of those interviewed failed to recognise the link between intimate partner violence and sexually transmitted infections. Provider education is necessary to increase knowledge and implement more effective inquiry and counselling about intimate partner violence to more safely recommend expedited partner therapy.

Language: en