More GP Consultations by Violence Victims: Results from the Representative German DEGS1 Study

• Published in: International journal of environmental research and public health 2023-03, Vol.20 (5), p.4646
• Main Authors: Hunzelar, Carmen, Krumpholtz, Yelda, Schlack, Robert, Weltermann, Birgitta
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Age; Aggression; Alcohol; Analysis; Chronic illnesses; Criminal statistics; Domestic violence; Drug abuse; Economic conditions; Family physicians; Gender; General Practitioners; Health services; Humans; Likert scale; Medicine; Mental depression; Mental health; Monitoring systems; Patients; Physical disabilities; Physicians; Physicians (General practice); Population-based studies; Public health; Public spaces; Referral and Consultation; Sex crimes; Social Class; Socioeconomic factors; Socioeconomic status; Socioeconomics; Surveys; Surveys and Questionnaires; Victims; Violence; Womens health
• ISSN: 1660-4601; 1661-7827; 1660-4601
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20054646

Violence is a growing public health problem influencing physical and mental health. Victims tend to contact medical care in the first place, yet a discrepancy between patients' violence experiences (VE) and general practitioners' (GP) awareness is reported. The number of GP visits by victims is of interest. Using data of the nationally representative German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Adults (DEGS1), associations between the prevalence of ≥1 recent VE (last 12 months) and the number of GP contacts were analyzed with respect to age, gender, socio-economic status, and health conditions. The DEGS1 dataset comprised persons aged 18 to 64 years (n = 5938). The prevalence of a recent VE was 20.7%. Compared to non-victims, VE victims visited their GP significantly more often in the preceding 12 months (3.47 vs. 2.87, < 0.001), which increased markedly in those who were strongly impaired by a recent physical VE (3.55 GP visits) or psychological VE (4.24). The high frequency of GP contacts in VE victims constitutes opportunities to professionally support this vulnerable patient group and underlines the necessity for GPs to integrate VE as a bio-psycho-social problem in a holistic treatment approach.