Many older women abused by their partner

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Just over one quarter of women 65 years of age and older have experienced physical, sexual or psychological abuse at the hands of an intimate partner during their lifetimes, a new study shows.

Among the 370 women participating in the study, 18.4 percent reported physical or sexual violence, while 21.9 percent reported non-physical abuse, for example threats and controlling behavior.

Given the known severe health consequences of partner violence, the findings "suggest a need for increased efforts to address partner violence in older women," Dr. Amy E. Bonomi of The Ohio State University in Columbus and colleagues conclude in a report published in The Gerontologist.

While an increasing amount of research is addressing intimate partner violence among older women, there is little information on how prevalent such violence is or on its duration, frequency, or severity, Bonomi and her team note. To investigate, they interviewed 370 female members of a cooperative health care system by telephone.

Overall, 26.5 percent of the women surveyed reported suffering physical or non-physical intimate partner abuse during their lives. Over the past five years, 3.5 percent said they had experienced intimate partner violence, while 2.2 percent reported abuse during the previous year.

Over 90 percent said they had only one abusive partner during their lifetime. But among the women reporting physical violence, 18.1 percent reported 20 or more episodes of violence, and 61.2 percent of women who experienced controlling behavior reported 20 or more episodes.

And abuse lasted for years; for example, women who suffered sexual violence experienced it for an average of three years, while the duration of controlling behavior averaged 10 years.

Just 3 percent said a health care provider had ever asked them whether they were experiencing physical or sexual abuse. All of the women surveyed had health insurance.

SOURCE: The Gerontologist, February 2007.