Partner interference with healthcare faced by many women in abusive relationships

DETROIT— Dr. Laura McCloskey, director of the Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute and professor of Psychology at Wayne State University, is the lead author on an article in the August 22, 2007 Journal of General Internal Medicine ((8):1216-7). The article describes a previously unexplored form of domestic violence: partner interference with healthcare. Traditionally domestic violence or intimate partner violence has been defined as physical, sexual violence or psychological abuse within an intimate relationship.

Dr. McCloskey’s survey of more than 2,000 women outpatients reveals that physically abused women also face an increased likelihood that their partner will obstruct or interfere with their seeking medical attention or visiting a physician. Women who are Latina, low income, unemployed, pregnant or have less than a high school education are more likely to have a partner who interferes with their healthcare needs. Women who report experiencing healthcare interference are more likely to be accompanied by their partner to medical visits and to report poorer health than other women in the sample.

McCloskey et al’s findings are particularly important to the medical community. A woman’s apparent failure to follow through with medical treatment may signify partner abuse, especially for women from vulnerable populations.

Dr. McCloskey’s area of research interest is family violence and its impact on mothers and children. She has been director of the Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute at Wayne State University since 2006 and previously held faculty appointments at the University of Arizona, Harvard School of Public Health, and the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy and Practice.

Wayne State University is one of the nation’s pre-eminent public research universities in an urban setting. Through its multidisciplinary approach to research and education, and its ongoing collaboration with government, industry and other institutions, the university seeks to enhance economic growth and improve the quality of life in the city of Detroit, state of Michigan and throughout the world.