The Documentation and Characteristics of Hospitalized IPV Patients Using Electronic Medical Records Data: a Follow-Up Descriptive Study

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious health problem worldwide but is often not identified by health services. The aim of this study was to describe the characteristics of healthcare patients and documentation compared to the baseline study (2008–2012). The sample (N = 798) consisted of visits to a central hospital in Finland that had been marked with the ICD-10 codes for assault (X85–Y09) and physical abuse (T74.1) during the years 2013–2017. The data was analyzed with content analysis. Among the IPV visits (n = 110), partner- or spouse-related perpetrator coding was poor (11%). Victims experienced multiple injuries, and the violence increased with female gender, alcohol, and nighttime. The insufficient use of perpetrator codes underestimates the incidence of IPV and minimizes their usefulness for surveillance.