Predictors of health care use among a predominantly hispanic, urban sample of individuals seeking IPV services

Hispanics, Blacks, and women are disproportionately burdened by intimate partner violence. Barriers to seeking medical care play an important role in victims accessing the full myriad of services they need. A secondary analysis of data collected over a 6-month period at a coordinated domestic violence social agency was completed to assess predictors of seeking medical care after experiencing intimate partner violence. A hierarchical logistic regression was conducted to assess the predictive ability of socioeconomic factors, type of abuse, and severity of abuse. Hispanic victims of intimate partner violence were less likely to seek medical attention compared to non-Hispanic Whites, even after controlling for socioeconomic factors, type of abuse, and severity of abuse, Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) 5 .40, p 5 .05, 95% CI [.164,.995]. Victims reporting physical abuse were over seven times more likely to seek medical attention, AOR 5 8.02, p 5.04, 95% CI [2.35, 27.34]. Medical care needs to be incorporated into coordinated social services offered to victims of intimate partner violence.