Individuals with a history of intimate partner violence (IPV), particularly those who sustained IPV-related head injury (IPV-HI), report significantly worse psychiatric, cognitive, neurobehavioral, and general health problems compared with individuals without IPV exposure. These findings were published in Brain Injury.

Researchers from Vanderbilt University Medical Center conducted a cross-sectional survey to assess the prevalence and long-term health impact of IPV-related head injury.

Participants completed questionnaires assessing demographics, IPV exposure, psychiatric history, cognitive symptoms, and general health. The final sample included 1297 participants stratified into 3 groups: no IPV history (n = 1032), IPV without head injury (n = 163), and IPV with IPV-related head injury (n = 102). Women comprised 73.5% of the IPV-HI group, 72.4% of the IPV-only group, and 52.9% of controls (P =3.8×10-8), while 78.4%, 91.4%, and 91.1% of participants in each group were White (P =3.6×10-5), respectively.

Our study provides novel insight into the long-term effects of IPV across several domains, as well as how head injuries sustained during IPV may lead to increased symptom severity across the same metrics.

The average number of prior concussion from any cause was 1.134 among individuals without IPV, 1.29 among those with IPV without head injury, and 2.24 among those with IPV-HI (P =.00012). Among those with IPV-HI, participants reported a mean (SD) of 6.442 (15.9) IPV-related blows to the head.

Psychiatric symptom burden was significantly higher among participants exposed to IPV. Mean (SD) Patient Health Questionnaire-9 scores were 5.17 (5.37) for control individuals, 7.44 (6.6) for those exposed to IPV, and 11.08 (7.06) for those with IPV-HI; mean (SD) General Anxiety Disorder-7 scores were 3.45 (4.44), 8.65 (6.71), and 5.31 (5.38), respectively (all P <.0001).

Past-year passive suicidal ideation was reported by 19.4% of control individuals, 32.5% of the IPV group, and 44.1% of the IPV-HI group; active suicidal ideation was reported by 9.9%, 16.0%, and 33.3%, respectively (all P <.05).

Cognitive and neurobehavioral symptoms followed a similar pattern. Average (SD) British Columbia Cognitive Complaints Inventory (BC-CCI) scores were 3.56 (3.7) among control individuals, 4.99 (4.27) in the IPV group, and 7.03 (4.8) in the IPV-HI group (all P <.0001). Average (SD) Neurobehavioral Symptom Inventory (NSI) scores were 13.91 (12.25), 20.72 (14.83), and 29.55 (20.02), respectively (all P <.0001). Participants with IPV-HI had significantly worse scores than the IPV-only group (BC-CCI P =.0006; NSI P <.0001).

Functional independence was reported by 74.2% of control individuals, 62.6% of the IPV group, and 41.2% of the IPV-HI group. Compared with controls, both IPV (odds ratio [OR], 1.83; P =.0017) and IPV-HI (OR, 5.32; P <.0001) were associated with higher odds of functional impairment; IPV-HI was also associated with greater impairment than IPV alone (OR, 2.91; P <.0001).

Study limitations include the reliance on self-reported data.

“Our study provides novel insight into the long-term effects of IPV across several domains, as well as how head injuries sustained during IPV may lead to increased symptom severity across the same metrics,” the study authors concluded.

Disclosures: Some study authors declared affiliations with biotech, pharmaceutical, and/or device companies. Please see the original reference for a full list of authors’ disclosures.