Exacerbation of Physical Intimate Partner Violence during COVID-19 Lockdown

Abstract

Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a global social and public health problem but published literature regarding the exacerbation of physical IPV during the COVID-19 pandemic is lacking. Purpose: To assess the incidence, patterns, and severity of injuries in victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, compared with the prior three years.Materials and Methods: The demographics, clinical presentation, injuries, and radiological findings of patients reporting physical abuse arising from IPV during the statewide COVID-19 pandemic between March 11th and May 3rd, 2020 were compared with the same period over the past three years. Pearson’s chi-squared and Fischer’s exact have been used for analysis.Results: 26 physical IPV victims from 2020 (37+/-13 years, 25 women) were evaluated and compared with 42 physical IPV victims (41+/-15 years, 40 women) from 2017-2019. While the overall number of patients reporting IPV decreased during the pandemic, the incidence of physical IPV was 1.8 times greater (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.1 to 3.0, p = 0.01). The total number of deep injuries was 28 during 2020 versus 16 from 2017-2019; the number of deep injuries per victim was 1.1 during 2020 compared with 0.4 from 2017-2019 (p<0.001). The incidence of high-risk abuse defined by mechanism was greater by 2 times (95% CI 1.2 to 4.7, p = 0.01). Patients with IPV in during the COVID-19 pandemic were more likely to be ethnically white, 17 (65%) victims in 2020 were ethnically white compared to 11 (26%) in the prior years (p=0.007). (Author Abstract)