Intimate partner violence and primary care and emergency use: the role of informal social support

Social support may encourage victims to disclose their experiences of intimate partner violence (IPV), but also to seek the appropriate help and care in the social and health services.

Using data from a multicentre European project - DOVE (Domestic Violence Against women/men in Europe – prevalence, determinants, effects, and policies/practices), the present study aimed at measuring the frequency of primary care and emergency use according to IPV types of victimization, and to investigate if victims receiving different levels of informal social support are using healthcare differently.

Results suggested a significant association between IPV types and use of emergency services, and no association was found regarding primary care services. Victims of physical abuse and sexual coercion sought more frequently the emergency department (> than once a year). Also, victims of physical abuse receiving low social support visited emergency more frequently than those with high social support; while victims of sexual coercion with high informal social support seek more often the emergency department compared to those victims with low social support, even after controlling for other covariates. These results seem to suggest that social support has a significant role in the decision to use healthcare among victims of IPV.