Task Force Recommends Screening Women for Intimate Partner Violence

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recently recommended that healthcare professionals screen women of reproductive age for intimate partner violence, emphasizing that screenings should include women who are pregnant or postpartum.

The USPSTF notes in the final recommendation, issued June 24, that:

• 47% of women report having experienced sexual violence, physical violence, or stalking.
• 49% of women report having experienced psychological aggression by an intimate partner.
• Women, compared with men, experience higher rates of sexual violence (20% vs 8%), stalking (13.5% vs 5.2%), severe physical violence (32.5% vs 24.6%), and adverse health and social consequences associated with intimate partner violence (87% vs 60%).

The recommendation updates and is consistent with a 2018 USPSTF recommendation. The task force updated the earlier recommendation by specifically noting the importance of including women who are pregnant or postpartum. Some of the studies the task force reviewed before deciding on the recommendation focused solely on pregnant and postpartum women.

“Evidence suggests that pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of initiation of physical violence among women whose partners did not want the pregnancy and is also associated with an increased risk of continued physical violence during pregnancy in women with an unintended pregnancy who experienced physical violence prior to conception,” the updated recommendation states.

We noted in our 100 Arkansas Moms project that according to data from the Centers for Disease Control’s Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System, intimate partner violence is a risk factor for new Arkansas mothers. For every 100 Arkansas mothers who gave birth two to four months before being surveyed in 2021, three reported experiencing intimate partner violence during the 12 months prior to pregnancy, and the same number reported experiencing intimate partner violence during pregnancy.

The USPSTF’s updated recommendation suggests specific screening tools that healthcare professionals can use. It also states that based on the evidence, the most effective interventions address multiple factors related to intimate partner violence, such as depression, rather than the violence alone; involve ongoing support services and multiple visits; and provide a range of emotional support and behavioral and social services. Studies show that interventions lacking multiple interventions, such as brief counseling, generally do not demonstrate a benefit, according to the task force.

The USPSTF declined to recommend screening for caregiver abuse and neglect in older or vulnerable adults, saying there was insufficient evidence to assess the relevant benefits and harms.

The USPSTF assigned a “B” grade to its draft recommendation. Under the Affordable Care Act, preventive services that receive an “A” or “B” recommendation from the task force must be covered by certain health plans without cost sharing. This requirement was recently affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is a scientifically independent, volunteer panel of national experts in prevention and evidence-based medicine. There are media reports that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is considering removing all of the task force’s members, as he did in June with the members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.