Abstract
A survey of 14,100 aged 45-50 Australian women found the following condition to be associated with domestic violence: allergies or breathing problems, pain or of fatigue, bowel problems, vaginal discharge, eyesight and hearing problems, low iron, asthma, bronchitis or emphysema, and cervical cancer. The women on this survey were randomly selected from the Medicare database and invited by letter to participate. The results showed that the health of women who had been in a violent relationship at any time in their lives was affected. 15.4% of the women who responded to the survey had experienced a violent relationship, slightly below the figure of 23% reported in the wider population. The survey showed a very clear relationship to domestic violence with women smoking 10-19 cigarettes a day having three times the odds of having experienced domestic violence. Because of the cross sectional nature of the survey no causal relationships can be implied from the results. The findings reinforced the importance of health professionals in taking a full social history from women so that counselling and other treatment can be implemented as soon as possible.