WASHINGTON: Older women exposed to high levels of family violence during
lifetimes are likely to have poor health, according to a new study
. In
the study involving African American women aged 50 years or older, the
researchers found that exposure to family violence, be it intimate partner
violence or elder maltreatment, worsens their physical and mental health.
The authors suggest that a holistic approach to caring for older women should
include greater awareness by clinicians of current and past violence exposure
and the negative effects it may have on the health status of these women. For
the study, the research team from Temple University School of Medicine and Emory
University School of Medicine used a survey to assess lifetime family violence
levels, including physical violence, emotional, financial, and sexual abuse,
neglect, and coercion.
"This study provides further evidence of the enduring harmful effects that
family violence can have on both mental and physical health, and in particular
it highlights the association between such exposure and the health of older
African American women," said Dr Susan G Kornstein, Editor-in-Chief of Journal
of Women's Health, and Executive Director of the Virginia Commonwealth
University Institute for Women's Health, Richmond, VA.
The research team included Dr Anuradha Paranjape, MPH, Nancy Sprauve-Holmes,
MPH, John Gaughan, PhD, and Nadine Kaslow, PhD, from Temple University School of
Medicine (Philadelphia, PA) and Emory University School of Medicine (Atlanta,
GA).
