ReseaTrch on traumatic brain injury (TBI) as a result of domestic violence has greatly increased in the past decade, with publications addressing the prevalence, diagnosis, evaluation, and treatment. Although TBI due to domestic violence has recently been found to occur quite frequently, it was not widely understood until the 1990s. Individuals who suffer from domestic violence TBI often experience sequelae such as decreased, which is the leading cause of all deaths for Americans less than 44 years old, is defined as “an alteration in brain function, or other evidence of brain pathology, caused by an external force that may result in cognitive functioning, memory loss, and PTSD. The goal of this article is to increase awareness about TBI secondary toimpairment". Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a type of domestic violence, with the intent that is defined as “behaviors that it will highlight areas for future research on the diagnosis, evaluationare intended to exert power and control over another individual, including physical, sexual, verbal, emotional, and treatment of TBI in this populationfinancial abuse, and/or stalking".
Author | Screening Tool | Population | Measuring Tool | Study Objective | Conclusions |
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Dyar et al., 2021 [28] | Sexual and gender minorities-specific IPV Conflict Tactics Scale | Sexual and gender minority populations who were assigned female at birth between ages 16 and 20 years old. | An assessment scale addressing SGM-specific IPV behaviors including perpetriation and victimization. | To create a comprehensive set of culturally appropriate measures captivating a broad range of types of IPV among sexual and gender minorities. | This tool demonstrated high reliability and validity. It improved upon previous scales by being cuturally sensitive and addressing unique forms of IPV experienced by this community. This tool can be further improved and evaluated by future research and use on SGMs who are assigned male at birth, as well as different age groups. |
Stephenson and Finneran, 2013 [29] | IPV Gay and Bisexual Men (-GBM) scale | Gay and bisexual men in the USA with at least a 6th grade reading level. | Consist of 23 prompts in five domains: physical and sexual abuse, monitoring, controlling, HIV-related abuse, and emotional abuse, which takes about 15–20 min to complete. | Create a new scale to measure IPV among gay and bisexual men. | The IPV-GBM scale showed strong internal reliablity. Although there was minimal variations in content of the scale by race, the results showed that it seemed to be appropriate for use in white and black/African American populations. This scale showed a higher prevalence of IPV than other scales, indicating that it included more items that are experienced specifically by this population. Further testing is needed to create a scale that is applicable to larger samples of this population as well as other racial/ethinic groups. |
hoarseness, petechiae in conjunctivae, scalp, and external ear | |||||
[40] | |||||
Psychiatric symptoms: emotionally labile, restless, combative, catatonic [40] |
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Other common symptoms: bruises, back pain, acquired thrombocytopenia, post-traumatic wound infection [26,37][26][37] |
Tool | Method of Administration |
Primary Focus: TBI vs. IPV |
Prompts Relating to TBI Secondary to IPV |
Ways to Make the Tool Better at Screening for TBI Secondary to Domestic Violence | |
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HELPS [2,42,46,47][1][42][46][47] | Professional interview |
TBI | None, asks about injury to head, but not in relation to domestic violence. | When asking about injuries to the head, ask the cause. Specifically ask if the injury was inflicted by another individual and if so, who. | |
Brain Injury Screening Questionnaire (BISQ) [42] |
Self-report | ||||
Peitzmeier et al., 2019 [30] | Transgender-related IPV Tool | Transmasculine individuals: individuals assigned a female sex at birth who have a non-female gender identity. | Four questions assessing four domains: coercive control of gender transition or gender presentation, emphasizing undesirability of transgender individuals as intimate partners, blackmail via outing, and sabotaging transition. | Create a measurement tool to assess transgender-related IPV. | This study showed that the scale had adequate reliability and validity as compared with other measures. This tool was helpful for identifying dangers that transgender individuals may be facing, that would be otherwise missed by traditional meaurement tools. A revised 10-item scale is being developed, as these additional items may increase the tools sensitivity and validity. Using this tool will allow clinicians and researchers to better identify IPV experienced by transgender individuals. |
Minority races (Native American, Black, Asian) [2,11,19,20][1][11][19][20] | |||||
Female military veterans [21,22][21][22] | |||||
LGBTQIA+ communities [22] | |||||
Elderly (>60 years old) and children [13,23][13][23] |
Common Presenting Symptoms of TBI Secondary to Domestic Violence | |||||
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Neurologic symptoms: headache, confusion, memory loss [38] |
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Gastrointestinal symptoms: malnutrition, alcoholic cirrhosis, loss of appetite, abdominal pain [37,[3738]][38] |
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TBI | Asks about blows to the head. | Ask about the cause, i.e., have injuries ever been inflicted by their partner. Ask about other injuries to the face. | Genitourinary symptoms (may indicate sexual abuse): vaginal infections, STDs, vaginal bleeding, pelvic pain, UTI | ||
Ohio State University TBI Identification Method [42][38] | |||||
Interview | TBI | Addresses questions about TBI | because of violent shaking. |
Include prompts about blows to the face and head, ask if their partner has every physically abused them. | Symptoms that may indicate strangulation: |
Traumatic Brain Injury Questionnaire [42] |
Self-report | TBI | Asks about injury to face and injury secondary to cord around neck. | Further address injuries to the head and face, including blows to the head. Ask specifically if patient has ever acquired an injury from their partner. | |
Partner Violence Screen Questionnaire [12] | Interview | IPV | Have you been hit, kicked, punched, or otherwise hurt by somebody in the past year? | Follow up this prompt by asking about if there have been any injuries specifically to the head. | |
Hurt Insulted Threated or Screamed at Instrument [12] | Interview | IPV | How often does your partner physically hurt you? | Expand to ask about the type of physical abuse (blows, shaking, etc.) and if there has ever been an injury to the head. | |
Woman Abuse Screening Tool (WAST) [12] | Interview | IPV | Do arguments ever result in hitting, kicking, or pushing? Has your partner ever abused you physically? |
Ask about body locations of physical abuse, including the head and face. Ask about timing of the most recent injury. |